Winged Destiny
by DameonStarflame
Summary: An anomaly takes the pilots from the A.C. Universe and throws them into the heart of the C.E. Universe's problems. What will they do? Will their arrival affect the outcome of the war? Will they get home? Read and Find Out! Part 1 of 3.
1. Missing in Action

Gundam Wing & Gundam Seed:

Winged Destiny

Chapter 1: Missing in Action

_After Colony 201: Four years of quiet, yet tense, peace have reigned supreme after Dekim Barton and his ambitious schemes to rule the Earth Sphere were brought to an end thanks to the people of the Earth Sphere and the Gundams. The destruction of the Gundams symbolized the true end of what had now become widely known as the Eve Wars. The reasoning behind the name was due to the way the wars' major events always seemed to occur on New Year's Eve. The president who had been in charge before Mariemaia Khushrenada's attack had been ousted because he was believed to be unfit to lead the Earth Sphere. Amongst the political turmoil that followed, the Earth Sphere United Nation, more commonly known as the ESUN, gained a new leader: Relena Peacecraft. She had stepped forward out of sheer frustration due to the constant arguments amongst political parties seeking to take control through various unsavoury means. Despite claiming to only be in office on a temporary basis until a better leader was selected, she has held the office ever since with no sign of any changes to come…_

* * *

Duo Maxwell yawned in boredom before he double-checked the automatic guidance system. Once he was finished making sure he was still on course, he checked his radar. Five other signals were visible on it, but they were quickly dismissed as he leaned back against his seat. "Is it me or do these escort missions seem like they're going to be pretty damn boring?" He asked into the air.

"_Duo, we agreed to take this job on the side of our normal lives, so stop complaining."_ The cold voice of Heero Yuy echoed in his cockpit.

Duo rolled his eyes as he looked at his visual monitor to see a new Wing Zero hovering near the front of a shuttle.

"_Just remember Duo: if we didn't agree to take on these escort missions, these new suits would probably be in the hands of somebody less experienced, and less trustworthy, than we are."_ Trowa Barton's voice cautioned. A new Heavyarms flew behind the shuttle, occasionally shifting to check below it.

"Yeah, yeah… I know. I still have the right to complain though!"

Quatre Raberba Winner's laughter came through. _"We should consider boring to be a good thing. That means that things are proceeding smoothly and there is no danger to the shuttle."_ A new Sandrock took up guard on the other side of the shuttle.

Duo chuckled in amusement before a thought hit him and he tilted his head in curiosity. "By the way, who thought we were trustworthy? We used to change allegiances quite quickly back in the day. You could never really be certain whose side we were on."

Before anyone else could speak, another voice came into the conversation. _"I wish all of you would shut up and do your jobs! It'd be your rotten luck if we get attacked while you guys are chatting idly!"_ Chang Wufei yelled. A new Altron was visible from above the shuttle, making agitated gestures to the other Gundams around it.

"Don't worry, Wufei, we are doing our jobs… we're just chatting to pass the time." Duo said as he glanced at the radar again. After stretching as much as the cockpit of the new Deathscythe Hell would allow, he rested his hands behind his head and stared out at the shuttle that bore the emblem of the ESUN. Despite his laid back attitude, he was fully alert for anything that could potentially hurt the important people on that shuttle.

* * *

The pilots stood waiting at the bottom of the stairs leading to the open hatch of the shuttle once they were safely in the colony's hangar.

Relena Peacecraft smiled as she came down the stairs. "Thank you for volunteering to take up your weapons again. I'm sorry we had to rebuild the Gundams and call back their pilots, but Milliardo got word that some terrorist groups may have finally started to spring up. He didn't want to take any chances, even though the Defence Council is trying to weed them out before they can really become a problem."

"So the peaceful times are finally coming to an end…" Heero remarked idly.

Everyone glanced at him warily before Duo made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Don't worry about a thing, Relena! We wouldn't be here if we didn't want to be."

"Duo's right, Relena, we're here of our own free will." Quatre said as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, ignoring the warning glares he received from her bodyguards.

Relena nodded happily. "Thank you…" After a few moments, she let out a resigned sigh. "There are a lot of meetings that will be going on here. I expect we'll be here for at least two weeks, so you can return to Earth on standby."

The pilots nodded in understanding as she began to follow the colony's escort.

As though suddenly remembering something, she turned back to them just as they were getting ready to return to their Gundams. "Since these Gundams are brand new, you should use the two weeks to get used to them and break them in. If there are any flaws, I want them to be taken care of before we run into a serious issue."

"We will." Heero said simply.

Relena nodded before she allowed herself to be taken away by the escort.

Wufei noticed a barely visible leg holster wrapped around Heero's black jeans. "When did you get that?" He asked as they made their way back to the Gundams.

"I picked it up a while ago. There's no need to hide who we are anymore, so it's a lot easier for us to move around with a gun out in the open."

"It certainly is easier for us, but with it out in the open, you lose the element of surprise. Plus, it definitely is easier for somebody with ill intent to steal your gun…" Trowa said worriedly.

Heero casually produced another gun from behind his back. "I have that covered. The gun in the holster is almost always filled with blanks, just in case somebody tries to use it to kill me. This is my real weapon."

Duo couldn't help but laugh as Heero returned the gun to behind his back. "See Trowa? You were worried over nothing! After all, this is Heero we're talking about."

A relieved chuckle escaped from Trowa. "That's true. It's been a while though. I think I've begun to worry about our skills…"

The others fell silent as they boarded their Gundams. Trowa was the first to admit out loud something they had all secretly been worried about since Milliardo requested that they take up arms to protect the Earth Sphere again.

* * *

Duo cracked his neck as the Gundams made their way back to Earth. _"You know… I'd hate to admit it, but I'm almost itching for a fight. That's always been the best way to 'break in' a new weapon."_

"_Be careful what you wish for, Duo. You never know who may be waiting to grant that wish."_ Heero cautioned half-heartedly as a hail of bullets forced Duo to override the automatic guidance system to dodge them.

"_Damnit Trowa!"_ He yelled as he looked up at the smoking Gatling gun that was aimed right at the Deathscythe Hell.

Trowa smirked. _"Heero's right, Duo… You really don't know who'll show up looking for a fight."_

A warning alert flashed on the Deathscythe Hell's console just in time for Duo to react and dodge the incoming slash from the Sandrock's Heat Shotels.

"_Not you too, Quatre!"_ Duo growled in irritation.

Quatre chuckled in amusement as the Deathscythe Hell's beam scythe activated and it began fighting back.

When the Wing Zero and Altron joined in, it became a somewhat friendly free-for-all match to test the limits of the new Gundams against something of equal strength.

Duo frowned as he noticed a new signal appear on his radar. _"Hey, do you guys see that?"_

The fight promptly ended as the others checked their radars.

"_Yeah… what do you suppose it is?"_ Quatre asked warily.

"_I don't know. Nothing's coming up in the database… it's an unknown."_ Wufei confirmed.

"_It's not moving… should we go check it out?"_ Duo asked.

"_Lead the way."_ Heero said.

Duo nodded as the Deathscythe Hell began moving towards the radar signal.

"_We should report in first. It would probably be wise of us to let Relena know whenever we're checking anything suspicious out."_ Trowa said worriedly as the others followed.

"_Don't worry, Trowa. We won't get too close to it. We're just going to observe it."_ Duo said, trying to sound reassuring. However, he was just as worried as Trowa.

Space still kept many of its secrets to itself and away from the humans who had taken up residence within its vast regions, and nobody knew when space would reveal any of the secrets it was keeping…

* * *

A few of the pilots cursed under their breaths as they arrived at the location of the signal.

The Wing Zero had gone into its Neo-Bird Mode in order to gain a speed advantage over the other Gundams as a precaution in case it was a trap and one of the Gundams needed to get away to report what had happened.

"_It's gone…"_ Wufei said warily.

"_This is strange. Everyone be on your guard. We were practically on top of it before the signal vanished. It couldn't have gone too far."_ Quatre warned as the Gundams looked around.

The sense of wariness from the pilots echoed in the movements of the giant machines.

"_It's behind us…"_ Heero couldn't hide the shock from his voice as the signal reappeared on their radars.

Zooming in on the signal to get a visual, Duo quickly paled. "You've gotta be kidding me…" He muttered.

The area where the signal was coming from was pitch black; no stars visible anywhere. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that the black space was swirling.

Suddenly, alarms began sounding in all of the Gundam's cockpits.

"_It's pulling us in!"_ Quatre yelled as the Wing Zero, which had been closest to the anomaly's reappearance point, began to move towards it.

"_Heero get out of there!"_ Trowa yelled.

"_It's no good. Cut your thrusters or else they'll be destroyed."_ Heero said calmly as the Wing Zero's thrusters stopped functioning, allowing the Wing Zero to be pulled into the anomaly.

The Heavyarms and Altron quickly followed suit, allowing the Gundams to be pulled into the anomaly without a fight.

The pull seemed to get stronger as the Deathscythe Hell and Sandrock struggled against it.

"_Damnit! What the hell is this thing?"_ Duo roared in frustration.

"_Duo cut your thrusters! They'll be pulled off the Deathscythe Hell at this rate!"_ Quatre ordered before following his own advice.

"_Quatre are you nuts?"_

"_Duo it's the only-"_ Quatre's words were cut off as the Sandrock vanished.

Duo muttered a stream of curses as his thrusters screamed in protest.

Finally, he decided to give up and cut the thrusters, allowing the Deathscythe Hell to follow the other Gundams into the anomaly.

* * *

Relena was deep in discussion with the colony representatives when a soldier suddenly burst into the room. He froze as they looked at him with varying degrees of concern, irritation and down right anger at the interruption.

"What is it?" The head representative snapped in irritation.

The soldier jumped. "I'm sorry sir, but I need to speak with Lady Relena. It's a very urgent matter that requires her immediate attention!"

The representatives looked at Relena in surprise as she stood, following the soldier out into the empty hallway in concern.

"What is it?"

The soldier saluted her before sighing reluctantly. "We were monitoring the Gundams as per your request…"

Relena nodded. She had a feeling they would take her words of 'breaking in' the new Gundams literally and would end up fighting amongst themselves in space.

"It appeared as though they began fighting each other, like you guessed."

Relena nodded again, wondering if one of them went overboard and did some severe damage to one of the Gundams.

"As they were fighting, another signal appeared on our radars. It appears as though they went to investigate and the signal vanished. It suddenly reappeared in a different location… and the Gundams began vanishing."

Relena paled as she stared at the soldier in shock. "What are you getting at…?"

"Uhm, well, it looks as though the Gundams and their pilots should be considered 'Missing in Action' for the time being, ma'am." He suggested weakly.

His superior officers weren't actually asking for her approval on the situation, he was just being sent to tell her that was their intentions regarding the strange matter. All they needed was the approval of the Defence Council, which was being notified of the situation at the same time as Relena was.

The strength left Relena's legs and the soldier quickly grabbed her before she hit the floor.

One of the representatives peered out into the hallway. "What happened?" She asked worriedly.

"The Gundam pilots are being considered as Missing in Action…" The soldier explained.

A gasp of horror escaped from the representative, but Relena didn't notice.

She could only stare at the floor as shock took over.

_Heero and the others… are gone…? It's my fault… I shouldn't have allowed Milliardo's request for them to return…_

The shock of the news turned into a faint, forcing the soldier and the representative to call for medical help.

* * *

As their Gundams were pulled through the pure darkness of the anomaly, the pilots were helpless to do anything but struggle to stay conscious from the extreme force of gravity being generated by the pull.

"_Wha-…goi-…on-…?"_ Quatre's scrambled voice echoed in their cockpits as a blinding white light appeared. The white light faded to reveal a sea of white sand.

However, the pilots were still reeling from the trip through the anomaly and had almost no time to respond as the Gundams plummeted towards the sand. The only thing they could do was manoeuvre their Gundams to allow escape from the machines once they crashed.

The resulting impact of all five Gundams crashing caused an explosion of sand that buried most of the Gundams' bodies deep. The chest and heads were the only parts of many of the Gundams to be safely above the sand. The Wing Zero landed on its back, the cockpit hatch barely visible in the surrounding sand. However, no movement came from any of the Gundam's cockpits…

* * *

**Author's Note:** It's here! The new and improved 3rd version of Winged Destiny! This story was actually my first creation before the 'accident' that wiped out my stories. It's been fun to go back and re-do everything, although it is insanely hard work. I hope you enjoy reading it! Winged Destiny will update every Monday until it's completion.


	2. Strange Appearances

Chapter 2: Strange Appearances

A warship rested in the sands, trying to decide on its next course of action after surviving an attack from enemy forces the previous day.

Sai Argyle frowned as five unknown signals appeared on the radar. "Captain…?"

"What is it?" Murrue Ramius asked as she came over to him.

"We don't know. Five unknown signals just appeared out of nowhere."

Natarle Badgiruel joined them with a frown. "Are they from ZAFT?"

"We can't confirm that. If they are from ZAFT, and they have some sort of cloaking ability, I don't think they'd reappear just inside our radar range."

"Unless they have a long range weapon…" Natarle cautioned.

"They don't seem to be moving, and even long range weapons have their limits." Murrue glanced over her shoulder as Mwu La Flaga entered the bridge. "Lieutenant, I need your opinion…"

Mwu walked over to them curiously. "What is it?"

Sai quickly explained the situation again as Mwu frowned thoughtfully.

"Send out the kid and the Strike. It's better to be safe than sorry. If they're hostile, he can handle them. Remember what he did against those BuCUEs the other day?"

Murrue nodded.

"And if they're allies that have gotten stranded like us, we can help each other out."

"All right…" Murrue said, glancing at the girl who sat behind the Captain's chair. "Send him out."

Miriallia Haw nodded as she touched a button. "Kira Yamato: Report to the Strike hangar immediately."

"I'll leave the rest up to you." Mwu said, patting Murrue on the shoulder before leaving the bridge.

* * *

Kojiro Murdoch was wiping his hands on an oil-stained cloth when Kira arrived in the hangar.

"What's going on, Murdoch?"

Murdoch shook his head. "Your guess is as good as mine, kid. All I know is that you're being deployed, so you'd better get moving. You know it's always something serious if they're sending you out without any explanation… but, then again, it could also be a precaution since the rest of the crew isn't on alert."

Kira nodded in understanding and ran towards the lift to his mobile suit's cockpit.

As soon as the Strike was activated, Miriallia's voice came from his communication system. _"Kira: five unidentified signals have appeared on the radar. They've been stationary since they appeared, but take no chances. We don't know if they're new ZAFT models, new Earth Forces models, or something else entirely. Please be careful out there."_

"I got it." He replied as the Strike was fitted with one of its many different packs.

For the situation they were faced with, the Strike was fitted with its Aile Striker Pack just in case they were indeed facing a hostile situation.

As soon as the Aile Strike was launched, Natarle's voice was heard. _"Ensign Yamato, depending on what they are, you are to capture one of them alive for interrogation. We'll need all the information we can get about what's happening in this region."_

Kira balked at the thought of having to capture a fellow human for interrogating, but he knew he had no choice as the Aile Strike made its way towards the signals.

* * *

He was surprised by the sight that greeted him when he arrived at the area where the signals were coming from: a large crater held five smaller craters containing partially buried mobile weapons.

"What the heck…?" He muttered to himself as he hid the Aile Strike behind the wall of the sandy crater.

"This is Kira reporting in. It looks as though there are four mobile suits and a mobile armour. They seem to have crashed. I haven't seen any sign of movement, so I'm going in to take a closer look."

A few moments of silence greeted him before Miriallia's voice came through. _"Understood, but please be careful Kira."_

"I will." He said before cutting off communications and exiting his suit.

He was surprised at how solid the wall of sand was as he climbed it. "They must have been travelling very fast or generating a great deal of heat to cause the sand to solidify like this…" Kira muttered to himself as he finally made it to the top and peered over the rim of the crater cautiously, hoping against hope that nobody was in the buried suits.

To his surprise, two people crawled out of two of the buried suits, apparently unharmed. "They still have pilots?" He couldn't hide the shock from his voice before he remembered that the radar signals had only recently been picked up.

Both were wearing black outfits from his vantage point, but one had short brown hair, and the other had a long brown braid reaching to the small of his back.

* * *

With the quiet emptiness of the desert, their words drifted towards him loud and clear.

"Damnit!" The man with the braid yelled angrily as he held his head.

The short haired man jumped over to his suit so that conversing would be easier.

"Whose idea was it to go near that thing?" The man with the short hair looked at the other man, but Kira couldn't see his face well enough to see his reaction.

"If I remember correctly: it was yours." The icy tone of the man's voice sent a shiver down Kira's spine.

The man with the braid turned so that Kira could finally see that he was wearing an old priest's uniform. Confusion quickly took over in Kira's mind: the type of attire he was wearing had stopped being used several years before the Cosmic Era began.

He was muttering under his breath, but it was apparent that he was cursing. "Come on, we should see if the others are all right." He finally said before heading over to the red suit and opening the cockpit hatch.

Another man appeared, shaking his head as though to clear it as the priest helped him out of the suit.

"Are you all right?"

The new man nodded. He was easily taller than the other two as he straightened. "I'll be fine." He said as he made his way over to a white and blue suit.

A blonde man climbed out.

"Here, you're bleeding." The tall man said as he passed the blonde man a cloth.

"Thanks…" He looked around as the short haired man began to make his way to the green suit.

"I see you're all awake now." A voice called as another man with black hair in a ponytail appeared over the top of the crater.

"Where've you been?" The priest asked.

"I was checking out the area, but I don't have a clue where we are." He said as he slid down the crater wall to join them on the blonde man's suit.

The blonde man crept carefully over to the sand as though to examine it.

Kira stared at the suits in surprise. The parts that were visible made them similar in design to the five suits Heliopolis had been developing for the Earth Forces, yet vastly different at the same time. He was almost tempted to join them, but being unsure of their affiliation, he was forced to stay where he was.

"I believe we're in Africa…" The blonde man finally spoke as he stood.

The others looked at him in surprise. "How do you know that?"

"Before meeting up with the Maganacs, I studied the different compositions of sand in various deserts. You know: just in case I was stranded somewhere and needed to know where I was without the help of technology. This type of sand is most commonly found in Africa, especially Northern Africa."

"We can normally trust Quatre's judgement on this sort of thing, so I guess that means we're in Northern Africa." The tall man said as he looked around.

"I guess our appearance didn't go unnoticed by whoever is in this region: I saw a mobile suit touch down over there as I was looking around." The black haired man said as he pointed towards Kira's location.

"I guess that means we're being watched by whoever was in that suit. I thought I felt something familiar… the feeling of being watched isn't a feeling I've had to deal with in a long while…" The short haired man said, almost whimsically, as they looked in the direction the black haired man was pointing.

"Well then, let's go meet our welcoming committee." The priest said brightly.

The others nodded in agreement, knowing there was nothing else they could do.

Kira blinked in surprise as they carefully made their way off the blonde man's mobile suit. Moving quickly, he headed back to the Aile Strike to inform the Archangel of the situation.

* * *

"_Kira Yamato! Where are you?"_ Natarle's impatient voice was the first thing Kira heard when he entered the cockpit and turned on the Strike's communication systems.

"I'm sorry I took so long. It turns out the mobile suits did crash and each had a pilot. They're all alive and mostly unhurt. It seems highly doubtful that they're with ZAFT; their outfits aren't exactly what a ZAFT soldier would wear… Uhm… one of them saw me coming in, so they're heading to my position now."

"_You should learn to be more careful when dealing with an unknown situation!"_ Natarle's angry voice snapped, causing him to wince away from the sound-only screen on the side panel of his monitor.

"_There's nothing that can be done about it now, just be careful. Just because they aren't wearing ZAFT uniforms, doesn't mean they aren't ZAFT operatives."_

Kira blinked in surprise as Murrue's calm voice replaced Natarle's. "Yes ma'am, I will. If they need help, and they aren't from ZAFT, do I have permission to help them?" He almost regretted asking that question as he heard a muffled fight break out between Natarle and Murrue.

Miriallia must have had her hand on the system to try and stop Kira from hearing it. Silence reigned for a moment before a defeated sigh could be heard, but he couldn't be sure which woman's argument had been defeated.

"_You have permission. We'll have to take extra precautions though. Make absolutely certain they aren't from ZAFT before you do anything."_

"I have a feeling if they were from ZAFT, they would have recognized the Strike. However, I'll contact you in half an hour. If you don't hear from me by then, I've been captured by them and they were indeed ZAFT soldiers." He had a feeling Murrue was rolling her eyes in exasperation at his comments, but he couldn't be certain without being able to see her face.

"_Understood… please be careful. We really can't stress that enough."_ Murrue warned.

Kira nodded as he left the Aile Strike to meet with the mysterious newcomers.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Next chapter will be the colliding of two Universes! For those of you who are curious as to what would have happened if ZAFT had been the ones to find the A. C. Universe pilots first, it would have been pretty much the same results, except with the A.C. pilots on the side of the "enemies". Kind of makes you glad the Archangel's crew found them first, hm?


	3. Unexpected Help

Chapter 3: Unexpected Help

Kira waited patiently at the Strike's feet for the pilots to appear over the ridge.

The first one to reach the top was the priest. "Well I'll be damned. Wufei was right! There is somebody with a mobile suit waiting for us!" He called to his friends.

Once all of them stood on the ridge of the sandy crater, they began to slide down towards Kira. The priest was the first one down, cursing as the short haired man and the black haired man slid down close to him, coating him in the dust from the disturbed sand.

"Your luck seems to be pretty poor today." The blonde chuckled as he and the tall man slid down. The priest shook his head as he brushed himself off.

"That looks like an official uniform pilot suit… I guess that means we really aren't home… unless the situation's worse than Milliardo thought it was." The tall man observed with a frown.

"Are you guys with ZAFT?" Kira asked warily. He knew they wouldn't openly admit it if they were, but something felt off about them. They really didn't seem like they knew his mobile suit and it was apparent that everyone in ZAFT knew the Strike and the Archangel.

The tall man, the blonde, and the priest looked at him in confusion. "ZAFT? What the hell is ZAFT?" The priest blurted out without thinking.

"Obviously, this ZAFT is the enemy faction of whatever organization this kid is with. Whatever we got dragged into appears to have thrown us right into the middle of a war." The short haired man said in the same icy tone.

"We're not with anyone, kid; you don't have to worry about that." The black haired man said with a dismissive wave.

"You want proof? Hell, I'll introduce everyone." The priest said. "I'm Duo Maxwell; the cold-hearted jerk beside me is Heero Yuy." He motioned to the short haired man who glared at Duo. Duo didn't seem to notice as he moved on. "This is Quatre r-…somethingorother Winner." He said as he motioned to the blonde.

"It's Quatre Raberba Winner, but I doubt middle names will be of any significance." The blonde said, chuckling in amusement.

"Thanks for reminding me. Anyways, this is Trowa Barton and Chang Wufei, although we just call him Wufei. Now if we were enemies, would we go telling you our full names?" Duo asked as he motioned to the tall man and the black haired man respectively.

Kira nodded slightly. "I'm Kira Yamato, pilot of the Strike." He said, wondering if they simply didn't know the appearance of the Strike.

However they merely looked up at the machine with examining eyes and, after a few moments, seemed to nod in approval of it, confirming his suspicions they weren't with ZAFT.

"You wouldn't mind helping us get our suits out would you? I doubt they're going to be able to free themselves at this point."

Kira nodded. "I'll see if I can. If I can help you out, then the Strike will be in the crater before you know it. If not…"

Quatre nodded. "We understand. We'll wait for you at our machines."

Kira nodded again as he climbed onto the lift back to his cockpit.

Once inside, he watched as the others climbed the slope of the crater. "I doubt Miss Natarle will be happy with this…" He muttered as he opened a line with the Archangel.

* * *

Murrue nervously waited for Kira to contact the Archangel. The kid was far too trusting of people and if they were experienced ZAFT secret operatives, they could easily fool him and capture him. As she looked around, she realized she wasn't the only nervous wreck on the bridge.

Kira's friends Sai, Tolle Koenig, Miriallia, and Kuzzey Buskirk sat at their stations exchanging nervous glances with each other.

Natarle seemed more agitated than nervous, but occasionally a flicker of worry crossed her face.

Mwu was back on the bridge and seemed the calmest of everyone.

Moments ago, he had said that Kira had good instincts, even if they were untrained, and that he would take every precaution necessary in case they were ZAFT soldiers. The doubt in Mwu's voice when he spoke of Murrue and Natarle's fears made Murrue wonder if he believed what Kira had said.

"_Archangel, this is Kira!" _Everyone jumped when Kira's voice sounded in the bridge.

"Kira, we read you! Go ahead!" Miriallia said. She was unable to hide the relief in her voice, which echoed the relief on everyone in the bridge's faces, including Mwu's.

"_They aren't from ZAFT… in fact… I don't even think they're from here."_

Murrue frowned in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"_It's hard to explain… It's just this weird feeling I have… Anyways, can I go help them? They want to get their mobile suits free. It looks as though they collided with a great deal of force: what's visible of their suits is pretty banged up."_

Murrue sighed. "All right, Kira. Just be careful, even if they aren't with ZAFT, there may be ZAFT lurking around. Remember: we are in their territory…"

"_I will ma'am. I'm out."_

Murrue shook her head. "It looks as though you were right, Lieutenant La Flaga."

Mwu simply shrugged. "If that kid had been raised as a soldier of ZAFT… the Earth Forces wouldn't stand a chance… Just be glad he's on our side. Although… I should probably train him a bit so he doesn't get into trouble when the battles get even rougher."

Kira's friends looked at each other worriedly as they listened to Mwu's comments.

Murrue sighed and nodded. "Let's just hope it doesn't take too long to get those suits excavated. I want to be away from this area as fast as possible." She said.

Mwu and the others nodded in agreement; Northern Africa was ZAFT's territory. It was too dangerous for them to stay in the region for too much longer without the wrath of the infamous Desert Tiger falling on them.

* * *

Duo sighed as they waited to see if Kira was given permission to help them. "Do you honestly think they'll believe us?"

"Probably not… let's face it: our reactions and answers were pretty questionable." Trowa answered.

The others nodded in agreement before the Strike appeared over the crater's edge.

"Well I'll be damned…" Duo said in surprise.

"You're already damned a thousand times over, Duo; don't make it any worse." Trowa wryly said as he ignored the look Duo gave him.

The Strike landed near the head of the Deathscythe Hell and knelt to let its pilot off. "I'm allowed to help you guys. How are we going to work this?"

The others glanced at each other quickly before Quatre answered. "The Heavyarms and the Deathscythe Hell don't seem to be buried too deeply, so we'll clear them first and then you can pull them out with your mobile suit. We'll worry about the rest after that."

Kira was amazed by how they seemed to have that figured out by just a glance.

_They don't seem like people we'd want as enemies…_

He thought warily.

"We'll get to work now. When one of the suits is clear enough to be pulled out safely, we'll wave to you, all right?"

Kira nodded as they split up and began immediately clearing the sand from the black and red mobile suits. Kira quickly climbed back into the Aile Strike and waited patiently for their signal. He was amazed at how quickly they got to work without any apparent fuss or need for a leader to direct their clean-up effort.

* * *

The pilots laid in exhaustion as the Deathscythe Hell and the Heavyarms laid flat on top of the sands. They had just completed cleaning out all the sand from the important places of the two machines and decided to take a break in the shadow of the Strike before the desert heat killed them.

"Duo, we should get the Deathscythe Hell and Heavyarms operational and help speed up the process. We didn't expect to end up in a desert and too long out here will kill us without proper provisions." Trowa said as he stood up, brushing the sand off him.

Duo nodded in agreement and proceeded to do the same. "You guys stay here and get some rest until we can get them operational."

The others nodded in understanding: each Gundam had a climate control system built into their cockpits, which enabled them to fight without worry about heat or cold in extreme climates like the desert or space. The faster they could be operational, the better off their pilots would be.

They quickly moved towards their Gundams and were surprised when their Gundams' cockpit hatches opened with ease.

Trowa surprised himself when he made a crossed fingers gesture to Duo, who replied with the same gesture before leaping into the Deathscythe Hell, his braid falling in just as the hatch began to close.

Trowa shook his head as he climbed into the Heavyarms' cockpit. He was surprised to find himself nervous about trying to activate it. Then again, with all that had happened to them, he was surprised he could still be surprised about such trivial things.

They knew nothing about the anomaly that brought them here, and they didn't know what kind of internal damage the Gundams could have sustained. He inputted the right sequence of commands to get his Gundam operational and waited for the results.

After a few minutes of dead silence, things within the cockpit began to come to life.

Trowa unconsciously held his breath as he waited for the start-up to complete.

However, as the process reached the main control panel, it suddenly stalled. Sparks began to shoot out from the control panel, causing Trowa to shield his face as the sparks were quickly replaced by small explosions that shut down the Gundam.

Coughing from the acrid smoke he inhaled, he left the cockpit, leaving the hatch open to clear out the smoke. When he could see clearly, he saw Duo waving smoke away from his face as he too climbed out of his Gundam.

The others came rushing up to them in concern as they met on top of the Sandrock, away from the smoking machines.

"What happened?" Quatre asked worriedly.

"It was a little slow to start up, but everything seemed to check out… then it started sparking and exploded, shutting down the Gundam." Trowa explained.

"That's what happened to mines too. I don't know what the hell is wrong with it, and we barely know these Gundams to do much about it." Duo grumbled in irritation.

They were stuck in this situation because of him and the guilt seemed to be weighing heavily on him.

Heero stared at the Heavyarms while Quatre tried to calm Duo down. "Let me try." He finally said.

"Tsk… go nuts, o' Lord of the Gundams." Duo said with bitter sarcasm.

Heero seemed to ignore Duo as he looked at Trowa, who nodded.

Once Heero went to the Heavyarms, Trowa glanced at Duo. "I do believe you have cost yourself a free repair job."

Duo shook his head. "If he can get the Heavyarms running, he'll do the same for the Deathscythe Hell no matter what I said to him. He wants to get out of this heat as much as the rest of us." He said, wiping his forehead.

"Duo has a point…" Quatre said, looking at the sky with concern.

* * *

After a few moments of impatient silence, the others were surprised when the humming of activation came from the Heavyarms and it was able to slowly get to its feet before kneeling shakily to allow Heero to exit.

"It's all yours, Trowa. Be careful: the Heavyarms' structure took more damage than we thought." He said calmly before heading over to the Deathscythe Hell and climbed in.

"See? I told you that he'd do it." Duo said with a smirk, causing Trowa to shake his head and walk over to his Gundam.

Kira stared in surprise at how quickly the man known as Heero worked to repair the two freed mobile suits.

Once Duo was inside his Gundam and the others on the ground began clearing away the Sandrock and Altron, Trowa's voice came over his communication system.

He had given the Gundam pilots his communication code so they could talk to each other without having to try and figure out a sign system.

"_All right, kid… let's move as quickly as we can. Can you try and clear out the Wing Zero without help? It's the jet over there."_

His Gundam pointed to the more than half-buried jet lying in the sands.

"_I would try, but I don't think we should trust any careful movements to our Gundams in their condition. And asking the others to try and dig it out seems like an impossibility considering how deep it appears to be buried. We can't risk having any of them die in this heat for one suit."_

Kira nodded in understanding. He was quickly taken aback by Trowa calling their mobile suits, and the plane-like mobile armour, Gundams.

"_Damnit!"_

"_What is it, Duo?"_

"_Don't expect any stealth recon missions from me for a long while; the Deathscythe Hell's Hyper Jammers are gone."_

"_I'm not surprised. I can't even open the Gatling hatches on Heavyarms' chest. Just be thankful the climate control system is working."_

"_Damn straight I am."_

"_Anyways, be careful with Wing Zero, Kira. It was the first one to crash and is probably has the most damage of all of our Gundams. It's pretty venerable in its Neo-Bird Mode… despite how Heero pilots it."_

Heero's past reputation as a reckless pilot brought out some amusement from Trowa as he wondered how Heero would act nowadays.

"I understand." Kira said as he moved the Strike towards the jet-like Gundam while the others worked feverishly to free the other two machines.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** The first few chapters are very similar to the original version, but things change once the Gundams have been freed and repaired. Old readers please be patient for the new content, and new readers enjoy the old and new content!


	4. A Meeting of Universes

Chapter 4: A Meeting of Universes

Finally, all five of the Gundams were free as their pilots rested inside their cockpits in an effort to cool down.

"_We should head back to my ship, we're in the middle of ZAFT's territory and it's too dangerous to stay out here."_

The other pilots nodded in understanding.

"_Hey Heero, can the Wing Zero get off the ground?"_ Quatre asked in concern.

The Wing Zero's transformation system had become a victim of the impact and the Wing Zero was forced to remain in its Neo-Bird Mode.

"_I hope so; I don't think any of our Gundams are in any shape to try to carry it while remaining stable."_ Wufei said warily.

The others nodded in agreement.

"_I'll try, although sand isn't exactly a good surface for the Wing Zero to take off from…"_ He said calmly, even though the others knew he was just as wary as they were on the inside.

A few sputters came from the Wing Zero's thrusters before silence.

Everyone watched with baited breath hoping for the thrusters to start.

Suddenly, the thrusters roared to life and the Wing Zero was airborne.

The others smiled in relief as they began to leave the crater.

"_Lead the way, Kira." _Quatre said as the Sandrock motioned to the Strike.

The Strike acknowledged and began leading the hobbled Gundams away from the crash site as its pilot hoped ZAFT wouldn't stumble on them. He had a hard time protecting just the Archangel by itself; but this time, the Archangel would be defenceless and he would have to protect five targets with which even walking appeared to be a chore for them.

"_Once we're on this ship of his, we'll begin repairs. We can't afford to waste too much time here. We have to find a way out of this place. We can't allow ourselves to get caught up in their conflict."_ Heero said on their private channel.

"_I know but…"_ Quatre hesitated to continue whatever it was he was going to say.

"_Oh great, here comes Quatre's saint complex. We aren't going to help them, Quatre. We need to get ourselves back before something bad happens. We were taken away at a pretty inopportune time, if you remember."_ Wufei growled.

"_I know, but should we really just use their services and leave without at least trying to repay them in some way?"_ Quatre asked. He was quickly becoming irritated with Wufei's apparent lack of courtesy towards the person that just helped them.

"_Quatre does have a point. Back when we were on our own, it may have been all right because we were trying to remain hidden… however, now all of that has changed. We should repay our debt in some way, even if it is only until they escape from their current situation."_ Trowa said calmly as they kept a wary watch on their radars and hoped they weren't malfunctioning.

"_We'll decide everything once we're aboard their ship, if they'll take us…"_ Heero said warningly, silencing all other conversation for a time.

* * *

Kira was nervous about bringing them back to the ship without actually confirming that it was all right with Murrue.

_I only asked if I could help them take their Gundams out of the sand, I didn't actually ask if it was all right to bring them back to the ship, or even if they could repair their suits in our ship…_

He decided to radio ahead to warn them about what was happening.

Murrue was waiting for something from Kira and sighed in relief when he reported in. "What's going on, Kira?" She asked as Miriallia brought his line up on the main screen.

"_Uhm, I'm bringing them back to the ship so they can repair their Gundams. Is that all right?"_

Murrue sighed. She knew something like this was bound to happen because of how nice the boy was. Although he called their mobile suits Gundams, she dismissed it as a habitual mention on Kira's part. "Yes Kira, it's all right. We could use some extra suits to ease the burden we've placed on you for so long."

Kira glanced over his shoulder uncertainly.

"Is something the matter?"

"_It's nothing ma'am." _Kira said. _"Thanks for permission; I had unintentionally begun bringing them towards the Archangel before remembering that I hadn't cleared it with you…"_

Murrue chuckled. "That's fine Kira. I knew you would. I don't want any messy situations springing up in the middle of enemy territory, so I'm not going to put up a fight in any way."

"_Thank you, Ms. Murrue. We'll be there in an hour, I promise."_ He said before cutting off communication.

Mwu couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. "Should we go see to our guests, Captain?"

Murrue nodded. "Ensign Badgiruel, please stay on the bridge and alert us if there's any incoming trouble."

Natarle saluted Murrue, although a flash in her eyes said she'd rather not have any strange suits brought on board. "Yes ma'am. I'll alert you the moment there's any movement."

Murrue nodded as she followed a still amused Mwu off the bridge.

* * *

As the Archangel came into sight, Wufei felt the need to pelt Kira with questions. _"Tell us… what year is it?"_ Although it was a strange one, it was the first question that had come to his mind.

Kira blinked in surprise and confusion, but decided to answer him anyways. _"It's 71 C.E., why do you ask?"_

"_C.E.? What the hell does C.E. stand for?"_ Duo muttered. Apparently, he was unaware that his communication system was still active.

"_It stands for Cosmic Era…it came into effect after the A.D. calendar system ended."_ Kira answered as his confusion mounted.

Heero's eyes narrowed. _"That means we weren't thrown through time like we had been speculating… we were thrown into another universe all together…"_

The others paled at the thought.

Kira stared at the image of the Wing Zero as it flew near the Strike. What they were saying was considered nearly impossible by both Natural and Co-ordinator scientists. _"What makes you say something like that?"_ He asked, though he doubted he wanted to hear the answer.

"_Where we come from, the After Colony calendar system follows A.D., I know it sounds crazy, but it's true."_

Kira nodded reluctantly. _"For some reason, I believe you. There are far too many differences and yet similarities between your suits and the five suits that were made by the Earth Forces. The Strike is the only one that's still in the Earth Forces' hands. ZAFT stole the other four."_

"_Ouch. That sucks."_ Duo commented.

"_And the clothes you're wearing Duo… they haven't been worn by clergymen for… I think it's been several years before the Cosmic Era calendar was introduced. I don't even think museums have any for displays."_

Duo's whistle was heard as the Archangel's hatch opened to welcome them.

"_I guess that ends question period for now. We'll find out more at a later time."_ Trowa said as the Strike flew into the mobile suit bay.

The others acknowledged his words with silence, but now their minds turned to how or when they would be able to get back to their universe…

* * *

Murdoch could only scratch his head once the new Gundams were secured in the holding docks they had been led to.

The Wing Zero was forced to be secured in the same fashion as the two SkyGraspers that were aboard the Archangel.

"If those are Gundams, then I'll eat my tool belt." He said as the pilots began to leave their machines.

While the Strike turned into its typical grey colour scheme as the Phase Shift technology shut down with the suit, the others retained their colour schemes.

Kira blinked in surprise as he noticed Murrue and Mwu standing nearby.

Mwu was chuckling at Murdoch's previous statement when Kira came up to them. "Murdoch, do you think you can help them out?" He asked as the other pilots stood away from them, talking amongst themselves.

"I don't know, kid…" He said as he went over to see what they needed.

Mwu whistled as he looked at the Gundams with an impressed expression. "Despite the internal damage you said they've taken, the external damage doesn't appear to be as bad as we first thought. Whatever they're made of is definitely better than anything we could make."

"Yeah, it really makes me believe their claim that they're from another universe…" Kira said absently.

Mwu and Murrue looked at him in confusion and disbelief.

From the conversation the others were having, it appeared as though Murdoch really wouldn't be of any help to the pilots.

"They don't know what we need. We'll have to do it ourselves like we used to. Or did you forget how?" Heero asked in irritation.

"Back off, Heero… we can't blame them; at least they tried to figure out what we needed." Duo snapped as Quatre apologised to Murdoch, who looked insulted as he went to check on the Strike.

Trowa frowned at Heero. "Remember: these are new Gundams. Just because they have a similar external structure, that doesn't mean the internal structure is similar. Essentially, we know absolutely nothing about these suits."

"I know that. Do you honestly think I'd be piloting something so potentially dangerous blindfolded?" Heero asked, causing the others to stare at him in confusion.

"I heard rumours about the new Gundams months before we were spoken to. I had a feeling we'd be expected to pilot them without knowing much about them because we wouldn't be in charge of their maintenance." The others nodded.

That was one thing Relena made clear before they decided to take on their piloting duties: they were to allow trusted mechanics of the ESUN to do any maintenance, upgrades or repairs to the Gundams in their time of service.

"Once they were completed, I hacked into their computer systems and stole copies of the blue prints for all five suits. They're stashed away somewhere within each respective machine. Good luck finding them." He said simply before heading towards the Wing Zero.

Mwu let out an impressed whistle. "That man especially can't be a Natural."

Duo heard him as they began walking towards their machines. "Nah, he's normal all right… he's just being a real smart-ass today." He said before heading over to the Deathscythe Hell.

The other pilots chuckled in amusement as they went to their respective suits.

Mwu blinked in confusion, but decided to keep his opinions to himself.

* * *

Trowa blinked in surprise as he accidentally struck the base of his pilot's seat and a small secret compartment opened, revealing the blue prints for the Heavyarms. He smiled as he examined them before he opened a channel to the others. "Since I know Heero wanted us to find the blue prints for ourselves, I'll simply give you a hint: check your seats very thoroughly." He said casually.

Soon Duo and Quatre gave thanks to him as they found their blue prints.

He smiled as he began looking over the plans, only to be surprised when he heard Wufei's voice. _"Thanks, Trowa. I never suspected Heero would put them in such an obvious place. They say things are always in the last place you look, I guess they were right."_

Trowa chuckled. "You're welcome, Wufei. Now let's get to work…" He frowned as something strange on the blue print caught his attention.

It had been specifically made bigger for a better look at the object, but he had never seen it before on any sort of mobile suit blue print.

"That's odd… Meet me out front of the Heavyarms with your blue prints, guys."

The others complied out of curiosity.

"Have any of you seen this before?" He asked and pointed to the same device on the Deathscythe Hell's blue prints.

They shook their heads before glancing at Heero, who had just joined them.

"Don't ask me. I only delivered the blue prints; I know the same information you do."

"It's connected to the nuclear reactor…" Quatre said, tracing a line from the device to the reactor that powered the Gundams.

"I wonder what it could mean..." Duo asked quietly.

"Well, it doesn't seem to affect our Gundam's performance, so there must be another reason known only to Relena and the Defence Council…" Wufei said dismissively.

"I really wish they would have told us, if something had happened to that in the crash without us knowing anything about it…" Quatre said in concern.

"We'll have to examine it closely some time. But for now, let's just get our Gundams up and running again." Heero said before heading back to the Wing Zero.

The others watched his back with concern. "Do you think he's all right?" Quatre asked.

"It could be stress. We have a lot of work ahead of us and we've got no clue when or if we'll be getting home. I know it's really pressing on me hard." Trowa said, receiving hesitant nods of agreement from Wufei and Duo.

Quatre sighed. "You're right; I know I'm feeling it pretty hard. Let's get back to work to help keep our minds off it."

The others nodded as they went back to working on their mobile suits.

* * *

Murrue, Mwu and Kira continued to observe them as they had their meeting. "I wonder what's going on…" Mwu mused.

"I don't know, but since the Strike doesn't need any work, I'm going to go get something to eat. Is that all right?" Murdoch asked as he came up to the group.

"Yes, it's fine Murdoch. Thank you for trying." Murrue said, receiving a nod from the mechanic before he left.

"So what do you think we should do about them?" Kira asked worriedly as they went back to their suits.

"I… have no clue. I honestly don't. For now, the only thing we can do is keep an eye on them but also make them feel welcome. It's going to be hard to do both things, though." Murrue said, shaking her head.

"Don't worry about it for now. Just do what you can with what we do know." Mwu said as he patted her shoulder. "That Heero guy may be the troublemaker of the group though. He'd be one I'd keep an eye on."

Kira's narrowing eyes didn't go unnoticed as Mwu clapped him on the back.

"Come on, kid. Let's go get something to eat."

Kira nodded as he followed Mwu out of the hangar.

Murrue continued to watch them work on their Gundams for a few moments before sighing with a shake of her head. "You all seem to have everything under control. When you're ready to call it a night, wave and I'll send somebody to escort you to some spare rooms we have available." Without waiting for a response from them, she left the hangar.

* * *

Quatre, Duo and Trowa paused to watch her leave.

"Who was she?" Duo asked.

"I don't know, but she appears to be somebody of great importance or else she wouldn't have spoken to us like that." Trowa observed.

"Well, at least we're not forced to sleep in our Gundams." Quatre said gratefully.

"That's probably because she doesn't trust us sleeping in the hangar where we could steal that suit of the kid's." Heero said as he stood atop the Wing Zero.

"Hmph. Trust Heero to bring out the negative points in a situation." Duo said, shaking his head.

"Like always." Wufei said. "Come on, let's get back to work. We want to have these suits up and running as soon as possible."

The others agreed and quickly got back down to work.

* * *

Some time later, Duo cracked his back in exhaustion, causing Wufei to wince in annoyance.

"Do you mind?"

"Hell, you think that's bad? I had to hear Heero put his busted leg back together! After you've heard that sound, nothing else comes anywhere close to being as annoying or disgusting."

The others winced and looked at Heero, who ignored them. "I assume we're done for the day?" He asked.

"I guess so; these repairs are going to take some nearly non-stop work." Quatre said.

As soon as the others nodded, Heero made a quick waving motion into the air before climbing off the Wing Zero. His eyes made a quick scan of the room and they could tell he was making note of where the cameras were as they joined him.

"What do you think?" Trowa's lips barely moved as he muttered to Heero.

"It's easy to disable from within. Duo can probably have it done in less than a minute." He replied with the same minimal movement of his lips.

"Glad you have so much confidence in me, considering we know next to nothing about this place."

Quatre restrained himself from shaking his head. He realized what they were planning: a late night break out should the Archangel's crew try to keep them for longer than they planned on staying.

* * *

A girl with red hair came storming into the hangar with a disdained look on her face, though she quickly hid it behind a smile. "I'm Flay Allster. I guess you're done now?" She asked with a false friendly tone.

It was obvious that she'd rather be doing something other than escorting a bunch of strangers around, even though she was trying to hide it.

They nodded, keeping their silence.

"All right then, follow me." She said. Her eyes flickered quickly to the gun on Heero's leg and a flash of fear was visible in her eyes before she turned and led them to their rooms.

"Sorry, but we could only find one room for you. However, there should be enough space for you, so make yourselves comfortable." She said before turning and leaving quickly.

"Cheerful girl, isn't she?" Wufei said sarcastically.

"She's obviously a civilian that's been forced to do things for this ship. Something really big must have happened to them." Quatre said worriedly as they entered their room, which contained only four bunks.

"We'll deal with everything in the morning. Today was probably the roughest day we've seen since the Eve Wars. And we've had four years of peace to go soft with." Duo said, shaking his head as he leapt onto a top bunk.

Trowa cringed at the size of the bunks before climbing into a lower one and allowed his legs to hang on the floor.

Heero simply stole a blanket from Duo's bunk before curling up on the floor.

"Are you going to be okay?" Duo asked worriedly.

"I've slept on worse surfaces." Heero said simply before closing his eyes.

Two crew members came in with panicked faces, with a folded cot visible behind them. "We're sorry, we couldn't find the cots." One of them said.

"Don't bother. He's already out." Wufei said dismissively as he crawled in under Duo.

"What about you, Trowa? Would you be better on that thing?" Quatre asked as he jumped into the bed over Trowa.

"I'm fine." Trowa said dismissively.

"I guess we won't need it, then." Duo said, shrugging.

The two crew members could only shake their heads in confusion before leaving them.

"Tomorrow we'll learn about what's happening in the morning, and then get back to repairing the suits." Trowa said before closing his eyes.

Wufei was already sleeping, leaving Duo and Quatre to wish each other a good night before joining the others in sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note:** A new feature has been added! "Author's Reply" will be below this section to reply to reviews that I can't reply to using the PM system. Hope those reviewers read my responses!

**Author's Reply:** _Mega1987_ - I'm quite familiar with Mr. Purple Kitten and rightly fear him. He is almost as dangerous as a Malboro. Please don't unleash Mr. Purple Kitten on me! *hides in a corner* The updates are every Monday, so sadly, I can't hurry up with them. I'm glad to see previous readers returning and hope this rebuild is up to the original's standards or, better yet, surpasses them.

_Secret Weapon Unit 06_ - This story is a REBUILD. The original story was done shortly after Gundam Seed had aired in Canada. Which means everything is set in stone, and I had never heard of Gundam Seed Astray back when I made it. I'm sorry if this disappoints you, but it got rave reviews back in its first two versions and I'm not messing with that. Don't worry about me comparing Cagalli or Lacus to Relena. I know they're all separate characters. And, admittedly, I dislike Relena. I actually like the other two (although Destiny brought Cagalli close to Relena-level disliking for a time). However, in writing fanfics, I take a neutral stance to let the characters come out naturally no matter what my personal feelings are for the character. I hope you'll keep reading my story even if it isn't what you want.


	5. Worries

Chapter 5: Worries

As the pilots slept aboard the Archangel in the Cosmic Era universe, the people they left behind in the After Colony universe were having a much harder time sleeping.

The chaos that had ensued after it was leaked that the Gundam pilots had suddenly disappeared would have shocked those that were unfamiliar with their legacy. However, there was not a single person within the Earth Sphere who was not familiar with the young men who were constantly being branded as traitors and enemies of the ruling faction or heroes and the saviours of the Earth Sphere during the unsettled times known as the Eve Wars.

Within hours of the leaked information reaching the media, worried whispers mingled with conspiracy theories to create strange and unsettling rumours that made the truth seem like a more sane explanation when compared to those rumours.

Friends and family of the missing pilots were at a loss when they were formally notified. Former allies and enemies alike reacted with a stunned silence. Anyone who had personally encountered the young men, on the battlefield or off of it, quickly went through all the emotions associated with the situation they were facing: shock, denial, anger, and eventually sadness.

Questions were raised, but no answers could be given, creating a slight panic within the ESUN's ranks.

It was like this the entire day, and many knew it would only get worse, especially for the president of the ESUN, simply because the president was always the first to be blamed for situations that had gone terribly wrong…

* * *

In her temporary office at the colony, Relena stared at the radar footage with glazed eyes. They had recently identified the Deathscythe Hell as the last signal the radar had sight of before both it and the still unidentified signal vanished.

A knock at the door jolted her back into focus, forcing her to shut off the footage. She had already been scolded by her assistants once before when they caught her looking at it for what may have been the hundredth time.

"Come in." She said, shaking her head quickly to try and clear the haze of half-sleep.

All traces of sleep vanished when her older brother walked in. His long, white-blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, something he only did when he had been dealing with desk work.

"Milliardo! I wasn't expecting you…" She trailed off as she caught sight of the dark look on his face, which caused her to lean back in her chair as he approached the desk.

Despite being his superior, Relena was always afraid whenever he wore that expression, simply because it meant that she was in serious trouble with him. She was surprised when his expression softened to one of concern.

"Are you all right?"

"I look that bad, do I?" She asked with an exhausted chuckle as her eyes caught sight of the time.

A moan escaped her as the clock revealed to her that it was close to midnight. "I'm fine; I guess I'm just tired. Is everyone else here too?"

He nodded as he walked around her desk and knelt before her, resting a hand on hers. "You and Quatre really are the same: you always blame yourselves for things beyond your control."

She blushed in a mixture of shame and embarrassment. "You heard about that, did you?" She had been told that during the time she was unconscious, she kept muttering about how the disappearance of the Gundam pilots was here fault.

"Yes I did…" He sighed, shaking his head. "I saw the radar footage; it looks as though they went to examine the anomaly of their own accord. It was not your fault. If it hadn't been them, it could have been a shuttle of civilians. Whatever has happened to them, they're safe. I assure you of that. They are skilled fighters and they have their Gundams should they be in any danger. You know that."

Relena sighed and nodded. "I know but…"

"Don't make me get Noin in here. Go try and get some rest. You have a duty to the people of the Earth Sphere you must perform, and you can't do it exhausted."

She shook her head. "You and the rest of the Defence Council keep sticking your noses where they don't belong. But thank you, Milliardo. I guess I should…" She said, standing.

Milliardo followed her out to make sure that she was indeed going to bed.

"What happened with the rest of today's meetings?" She asked in concern.

"They were postponed. Don't worry." He said, resting a hand on her shoulder as he steered her towards her room.

Milliardo stopped her before she entered her room. "Please, sleep well. Let us worry about them. They do fall under the Defence Council's responsibilities, after all. Not yours."

Relena nodded. "I'll try…" She wished him good night before entering her room.

Once he heard the soft click of her lock, Milliardo walked away.

* * *

Colonel Lucrezia Noin stood waiting for him down the hall.

"Did you do what I asked?" He asked her. She chuckled and nodded.

"Yes. I disabled all of the electronic devices in her room. She won't be able to sit up and stare at that radar footage, so she'll be forced to sleep."

"Good… thank you."

"Hey, you're not the only one who's worried about her! She thinks because she's the president of the ESUN that she has to do everything by herself." Noin shook her head.

"I know… unfortunately, so do the people and her opposition within the ESUN…" He sighed. "What did your investigation find?" He asked as he removed the tie from his hair, knowing there was no more desk work waiting for him until the next day.

"Nothing."

He frowned down at her. "Nothing at all?"

Noin could only shake her head. "I would have been happy if we found a sliver of Gundanium plating, or even a single bolt, but there was nothing. Whatever happened, there's no evidence of it anywhere."

"So we're back at square one…" Milliardo growled as they entered a conference room, where General Une and Major Sally Po were waiting for them.

"Have the researchers been able to figure anything out?" He asked, looking at Sally.

She shook her head. "They're at a loss just as much as we are. They say there are a few possible theories, but they dismissed them because the researchers say those theories are insane and impossible to happen."

"I believe we're beyond the realm of sane and possible considering five large machines simply vanished without explanation." Milliardo growled in frustration.

Une made a motion with her hand to try and calm him down. "Getting angry or irritated won't help our situation in the least. You know that better than anyone, Milliardo."

Milliardo nodded as he leaned against the wall. "I know… it's just hard to see her like that…" He said, looking at the door.

Noin put a comforting hand on his shoulder quickly before taking her seat beside Sally.

"Anyways, I won't keep you for very much longer. I know it's late and we have a lot to do tomorrow. I just wanted to ask how the scientists who created the new Gundams are holding up." Milliardo said, glancing at Une.

Une rubbed her temples in irritation before answering. "Not well at all. As soon as I went to check on them, they barraged me with the same questions we've been receiving from the public all day. They're taking the loss of their precious creations very hard and they're blaming us for putting them in the hands of those… 'Insane, reckless, ungrateful, suicidal…' well… you get the picture." She said flatly.

Milliardo understood and knew that those were probably kinder words than what the scientists had actually used to describe the pilots. "They never did like us choosing them again. They were worried about another-"

Noin chuckled. "Another incident like with the Taurus shipments, when Heero self destructed apparently without hesitation. Not to mention destroying the Wing Zero in the process of saving Relena's life."

"Heero does seem to be the one they worry about the most…" Sally mused.

"Can you blame them? His track record for keeping his Gundam in one piece is the worst of the pilots; even Duo isn't as reckless as he is." Noin said with a chuckle.

The amusement was short lived however, when the realization that they would probably never see the five men that so strongly influenced their lives ever again hit them hard.

"We're also investigating how their disappearance was leaked. That's given potential terrorists a card in their favour, so finding that leak falls into our jurisdiction." Sally informed him.

He nodded in agreement with the decision. "This meeting is dismissed… everyone, return to your rooms and try to rest. We'll have a lot to deal with until this matter is finally resolved, for better or worse."

The others nodded and stood, saluting Milliardo as they left.

Noin was the last to leave, waiting for him to shut the door. "What do you think the outcome will be?" She asked as they walked down the hall.

"I don't know… they have always been a sort of X-factor… you never know what will happen when it involves them…"

* * *

Almost as soon as Relena tried to turn the computer on in her room, she knew what Milliardo had done behind her back. She also knew the cameras in the hall were trained on her room, so she couldn't sneak away.

Instead, she resigned herself to lying on her bed, thinking about what could be happening to her closest friends and most trusted allies. Her thoughts occupied her mind so much that she wasn't aware of when they turned from thoughts into dreams and nightmares as sleep took over.

One particular nightmare showed two shadowy mobile suits battling before the one exploded, destroying both mobile suits. She jolted awake and sat up, breathing heavily in fear. The one mobile suit could have passed for the Wing Zero because of how frantic and shadowed the suit's appearance was. She shuddered at the memory of it as she climbed out of bed and walked over to her window with her arms folded beneath her breasts. She stared up at the sliver of the moon, desperately wishing the Gundam pilots would return.

"Wherever you guys are… please come home soon…" Her mind ran through several key memories she had of the pilots, the last memory that flashed in her mind was her seventeenth birthday.

After the fiasco that had been the official party, thanks to a terrorist group, the pilots had held her an impromptu secret party. It had been the most fun she had ever had, before or after that day. They were the only people she ever felt comfortable enough with to act like her real self and enjoy life, but now they were gone.

She wanted to curse and scream in frustration and anger, but instead she went back to bed and lay down, knowing the Defence Council would give her trouble in the morning if she didn't look rested.

She could only stare at the ceiling for what felt like ages before sleep finally decided to take over. Much to her delight, there were no dreams this time.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Sorry for the break from the main story, but what's happening in the A.C. Universe is just as important as what's happening in the C.E. Universe. It begins to set things up for the sequel as the mini-story from the A.C. Universe progresses.

**Author's Replies:** None to speak of! Sorry if I didn't send you a reply, but I've been busy. Please keep reading Winged Destiny version 3!


	6. Recon

Chapter 6: Recon

"Relena and the others ain't going to be too happy when we get home, but…" Duo trailed off as he jumped from the Deathscythe Hell's leg.

"About what?" Quatre asked curiously as he worked on the Sandrock's shoulder.

"About the damage we've done to our Gundams. Sure we may be able to fix the interior structure of our Gundams, but the external structures can't be replaced unless we find Gundanium, which doesn't seem to exist here."

"Who cares about the external structure? As long as Nataku is mobile and can fight on Earth and in space, that's all I care about." Wufei growled as he worked on the flamethrower unit of the Altron's right arm.

"You should care! If the external structure is compromised and we have to do something insane like pass through the atmosphere without a shield or mobile suit transport, we could be screwed! You know that!" Duo snapped as he grabbed some tools.

"Duo has a point, Wufei. With the external structure the way it is, we'll be able to fight like we usually do and not have to worry, but any of the other insane actions we're notorious for doing on a whim could be out of the question." Trowa said calmly as he worked on the hatches that hid the chest Gatling guns.

"Who's got their weapons systems online yet?" Heero asked as he changed the subject while Wufei and Duo exchanged glares.

Apparently Wufei had kicked the top bunk during the night and caused Duo to end up on the floor, however since none of the others were awake at the time, there was no proof that Duo didn't somehow roll off the bunk in his sleep and blamed Wufei instead. The incident had caused a lot of friction between the two pilots, which had held up even though they were busy working on their Gundams.

"Unfortunately, I am already up and running in that department." Quatre said. "However, the rest of my systems are still nearly non-functional."

"I'm not surprised. The Sandrock isn't as mechanized-weapon heavy as the rest of our machines are. Since the Heat Shotels are your primary weapon, so long as they aren't shattered, you can continue to fight no matter what the rest of the Sandrock's body is like." Trowa said. "The Heavyarms however… it's going to take a while." He said, cringing.

"I haven't even bothered to look at the Deathscythe Hell's scythe. The rest of its weapons seem to be perfectly fine though."

"The flamethrowers will be ready in another few minutes, but I haven't checked the rest of Nataku's weapons." Wufei frowned at the suddenly pale Heero. "What?"

"Those flamethrowers… they were fully loaded with fuel weren't they…?" He asked. A slight tremble in his voice had everyone caught off guard before they realized what he had thought of.

A heavy silence fell over the pale group as they all stood frozen.

Duo finally broke the silence with a shaky whistle.

"We were lucky… I had almost forgotten about them when we were going through that anomaly. Had the extreme heat from that warp or the impact of hitting the sands ruptured the Altron's flamethrower fuel tanks…" Trowa said, but his voice was barely audible.

Quatre looked at his fellow pilots worriedly.

_This is the first time I've ever seen all of us so scared… this new incarnation of the Altron can fire continuous streams of flames for up to an hour before a single tank is drained, and there are backup tanks ready in case of a prolonged battle… Which means had any of the tanks ruptured, nothing would have been left of us or even the surrounding area…_

"It looks as though the real God of Death still hates us and doesn't want to see us at his doorstep anytime soon…" Duo said grimly. "I'm going to see if I can eat something. Anyone wanna join me?"

The others nodded. They needed an excuse to get away from that terrifying revelation.

Death was something they were familiar with to the point that they didn't fear it anymore, but dying in a different universe, where the people they cared for would never know they were gone, was something they didn't want to think about.

* * *

After getting breakfast and returning to their room, the pilots discussed various things as they tried to keep their minds off of how close to a forgettable death they had been.

The topic they focused on the most was what the situation in the A.C. universe could be like if there isn't a difference in how time flows between the universes. However, the conversation quickly turned to another topic that was imprinted deep in their minds.

"While we're waiting for a way home, what should we do? Should we help them fight their enemy?" Duo asked, knowing the conversation would have steered in that direction eventually, so he figured he would turn the conversation to it so they could get it over with.

"Considering we know nothing about the situation, for all we know we could be sheltering with a group like OZ. Would you want to fight for a group like that?" Trowa asked.

The others shook their heads in disgust.

"Well then, I guess it's time for a bit of research…" Heero said as he stood and left, abandoning what remained of his breakfast.

Duo slapped his forehead in exasperation. "And by research, you know he means hack this poor ship's computers to shreds…"

Trowa couldn't help but chuckle. "You have to admit, it is the fastest way to gain information for our purposes."

"It's also the best way to make them believe we're enemy spies. I wish he'd think things like that through before making them throw up more red flags about us." Quatre said in concern.

"The question is: can he really hack the systems of such an unfamiliar place?" Wufei asked with a frown.

"Well, if an alert's sounded or we're suddenly being questioned, you'll know he can." Duo said as he leaned against the wall.

"Considering he accurately analyzed the hangar's monitoring system, I'm sure these computers will make him feel right at home." Trowa said casually.

"So he was right, eh? Tsk, why am I not surprised?" Duo said, shaking his head.

"Yes, I checked the system thoroughly last night. And he was right for about how long it should take you to disable it."

Duo stared at him in surprise. "Jeeze, you mean it's that easy for enemy forces to infiltrate this ship and disable everything from the inside?"

"For experienced infiltrators like us, yes it is. I don't think they ever really considered that option when they designed this ship. It's designed purely for combat and mobile suit transport, nothing aboard it except the Strike is of enough importance that they felt an internal security system was really all that important." Trowa said as he drank a cup of coffee.

"I just hope Heero doesn't get caught." Quatre said worriedly.

"This is Heero, he won't get caught." Wufei said dismissively. "They may have a detection system that Heero may get in trouble with, but they'll never catch who it is or where he is."

"True, Heero has never been caught before…" Trowa said with an amused smile on his face.

"Well then, let's just sit and wait for him to get back to us." Quatre said as he leaned back on his bed.

* * *

As Sai monitored the area around the ship for incoming ZAFT forces, an alert light flashed. "What the…?" He trailed off as he examined what the alert light was for.

Murrue and Natarle were speaking by the captain's chair.

"Captain!"

"What is it? Is it ZAFT?" Murrue asked as she and Natarle ran over to him.

"No, it's worse. Somebody's hacking into the Archangel's databanks!"

"Can you tell from where?" She snapped.

Jackie Tonomura, one of Sai's fellow CIC operators, answered. "I'm trying, ma'am." After a few moments of tense silence, he paled. "It's from inside the ship…"

The others grew pale as they wondered what was going on.

"Somebody find those pilots… especially that Heero person!" Murrue ordered.

Dalida Chandra and Romero Pal bolted from their stations and ran off the bridge just as Kira was coming in.

"What's wrong?" He asked Miriallia.

"Somebody from inside the Archangel is hacking into the Archangel's databanks, and Captain Ramius thinks it's that Heero guy you brought in."

Kira's expression darkened. "I'll go find him…" He said grimly as he turned and left the bridge, leaving Miriallia with a worried expression.

"Petty Officer Tonomura, try and get a lock on the hacker's location!"

"Already trying ma'am!" Sai and Jackie replied.

"He's really fast, I don't think I've ever seen somebody move this fast…" Sai said in surprise. He suddenly remembered Kira did it once on a dare, and he was as fast as this hacker was, but he decided to keep that information to himself.

_Could they really be Co-ordinator spies?_

He thought worriedly.

"Do you know what the hacker is after?" Natarle asked.

"They're all over the place. The detection system caught them as they were looking at the schematics of the ship and the Strike, but then they moved on and we haven't been able to find them since." Jackie said frowning.

Kira started by going to their room and asked the others where Heero was. When they were unable to tell him, he ran quickly in an attempt to find an access terminal.

As soon as he left, Duo and the others could only grin in amusement. "Told ya…" He said.

* * *

Back on the bridge, the frantic attempt to track down the hacker was still going.

Suddenly, Sai slammed his fists on his console. "Damnit!"

Natarle and Murrue looked over at him.

"What's wrong, Sai?" Murrue asked.

"The hacker's gone. The detection system can't find any trace of the hacker at all now."

"He's right, ma'am. I can't find the hacker anywhere, and all traces of where they were hacking from or what they were looking at are gone. Whoever it was, they knew what they were doing…" Jackie said with a shake of his head.

Murrue muttered some curses under her breath. "Can you find out what they could have been after?"

"We managed to trace them to the Archangel's logs, but that's all."

"The Archangel's logs? What use could they have for examining what the Archangel has been through?" Natarle asked in confusion.

"I don't know…" Murrue said with a shake of her head.

Chandra and Pal returned, shaking their heads. "You couldn't find him anywhere?" She asked.

"No ma'am and I don't think Kira has had any better luck in his search of the ship." Chandra said.

Murrue sighed in frustration. "Well, now we're forced to have a wait and see approach thanks to those guys…" She muttered, ignoring Natarle's demands for the pilots to be sent to the holding cells for interrogation.

* * *

"What'd you find out?" Trowa asked as Heero walked into their room.

"Quite a few interesting things…" He told the others what the Archangel and its crew had been through since it fled the neutral colony of Heliopolis, as well the events leading up to the war they had been thrown into the middle of.

Trowa shook his head. "No wonder they're so understaffed…"

Wufei frowned. "It sounds like; once again, the Earth Forces are in the wrong… Why does that not surprise me?"

"I don't know… ZAFT doesn't sound like it's in the right either…" Quatre said thoughtfully.

"So what should we do?" Duo asked grimly.

"We're caught between two factions that are both equally wrong. How do we choose what side to fight for from that?"

"The only thing we can do at this time is to go with Quatre's idea. Protect the Archangel until it's out of ZAFT territory, then leave to find a similar anomaly to send us home. I have a feeling they may soon find the right path that's different from both the Earth Forces and ZAFT. All they need to do is to survive long enough to realize it." Everyone looked at Heero in surprise.

"Quatre, check to see if he has a fever… he's talking crazy." Duo said with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Shut up, Duo. I'm fine. It's all we can do until we can get the hell out of here." Heero said icily. "Besides, you were the one who wanted to test the new Gundams. What better time to test them than now? That way we know how they function should we run into a situation where we can only do rough, temporary patch jobs on them."

Duo chuckled. "I knew there was an ulterior motive in there somewhere."

"What if they try and stop us?" Quatre asked worriedly.

"Then you know what we'll have to do…" Heero said grimly.

Quatre's head lowered as he nodded in understanding.

"Despite its advanced state, the technology they have is very similar to ours at the core, where it counts. Once I figured that out, everything else was easy."

The others glanced at Heero in surprise. "Come on, we need to get our Gundams up and running as fast as we can." The others nodded and followed Heero.

Quatre sighed. "I really wish we didn't have to…" He muttered before following the others quickly.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** We're back in the C.E. side of things! Showing a bit of the human side of the A.C. pilots with the first part, and the second part is about showing how similar the two Universes' technology is at it's core. C.E. technology is more advanced than that of the A.C. technology, but they both grew out of the same source: technology from the A.D. timeline. At their heart, they'd still have enough similarities that it would be possible for somebody experienced with A.C. technology to handle C.E. technology. I hope this is a good enough hand-wave for the critics, but if it isn't, I'll be glad to elaborate my theory more.

**Author's Reply:** Usually I would reply to reviews in the next chapter, but I will address _Technologymaniac burnig eagle_'s many comments now.  
1. I am sticking with the way things were in the original series. Which means everyone's sexual orientation is ambiguous (sorry Yaoi fangirls) and so are their relationships. The only one I've advanced is Duo/Hilde, and those who read the third story in the previous version of the trilogy would know what happened there. Heero and Relena still have their understanding/keeping at a distance relationship going, and Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei's relationship status will remain a constant mystery as to whether they are or are not seeing anyone.  
2. Yes, A.C. has more advanced technology when it comes to the production of mobile suits, but the C.E.'s computer technology is far more advanced. It's a tedious balancing act that I'm trying to maintain to keep both Wing and Seed fans from flaming my story to pieces like they sometimes did in the first two incarnations of the story.  
3. I have my internet sources, so please don't worry about me. I have the first volume of the Gundam Wing manga, Ground Zero, Endless Waltz, and Episode Zero. I also own the series on DVD. As for Seed, I'm not as thoroughly sourced as that. I have only the manga. Oh yeah, and is very finicky about linking offsites.  
4. As for their potential Newtype status, I'm playing that down. They're older and they've been out of the fight for four years. They won't be insanely powerful even if they were Newtypes. Plus remember that the "laws" governing the two Universes are probably different, so they could have been affected in an unnoticed way when going through the warp to compensate for those "laws".  
I would have replied to you quickly if you had an account, which would have saved you from trying multiple times.


	7. ZAFT

Chapter 7: ZAFT

On the bridge of the Archangel, Murrue kept a small screen on the arm of her chair, which showed the cameras in the hangar that could be switched to various cameras within the hallways of the Archangel if they left the hangar.

Since no proof could be found that Heero was indeed the hacker, they were unable to throw them out of the ship without sullying the humanitarian name the Earth Forces were trying to build amidst the turmoil with ZAFT. Instead, they were forced to monitor their every move, which meant long boring hours of watching them do nothing but work diligently on repairing their Gundams.

"I wonder what they intend to do once they're done…" Murrue jumped as Mwu leaned on the back of her chair and stared at the monitor.

"I wish you'd stop doing that." She said once she got herself calmed down.

"Sorry about that… So what do you think they'll do once they're finished?"

"I don't know." Murrue said thoughtfully. "I do know there are several people on this ship who would be happy to see them leave."

Mwu nodded in understanding. "That's true, but I don't see that happening any time soon. A few of them seem like good guys, they'll probably convince the others to stick around and help out in repayment."

"I just hope no trouble comes of them. We don't even know how well they can fight. We know they can repair the suits, but they could have just been mechanics that were accidentally thrown off a ship or something." Murrue said worriedly.

Mwu shook his head. "They're definitely not novices. I don't know the extent of their skills, but they aren't simply mechanics. I hesitate to use this term, but they're essentially pure-bred pilots. Those are the best, yet also the worst, kind to meet in battle."

"What do you mean by 'pure-bred'?" Miriallia asked with a frown.

"They were trained to be the perfect soldiers and the perfect mobile suit pilots. They're obviously extremely familiar with their mobile suits, so they must not pilot other suits except when needed, and they can do anything they're required to depending on the situation they're faced with. I don't know how they were trained or for what reason, but they would be extremely dangerous if we forced them into a corner and they were forced to join ZAFT…" Mwu cautioned before walking out of the bridge.

"Do you believe him, ma'am?" Tolle asked worriedly.

Before Murrue could answer, the bridge's alarms went off.

"Ma'am, there are several ZAFT BuCUE units approaching at a rapid speed!" Sai yelled.

"All hands, level one battle stations!" She snapped as the ship-wide alert was sent out to all the crew members.

* * *

Kira was wandering the ship with Birdy his mechanical pet bird sitting on his shoulder contentedly, wondering what he should do about the strange events that had been happening lately, when the alert sounded.

"_All hands, report to level one battle stations immediately!"_ Miriallia's voice rang out, causing him to look at the nearest speaker in concern.

"What could be going on now…?" He muttered before running to the change room with his pet bird close behind.

As he ran, he encountered Mwu, who was also heading for the change room.

"What's going on?"

"It's more than likely ZAFT, kid. You know they wouldn't give us much of a break."

"I didn't think the SkyGraspers were ready yet…"

"I won't know for certain until I talk to Murdoch, but it's better to be prepared just in case they are."

Kira nodded in understanding as they entered the change room.

"I'm going to see if I can find Murdoch, so get to the Strike and get out there!" Mwu ordered as he ran off in the direction of where the SkyGraspers were restrained.

Kira didn't have a chance to respond as he ran to the Strike, passing the others as they appeared to be scrambling to finish whatever repairs they were making.

_We don't need them to fight… I can handle a few BuCUEs…_

He thought coolly as he entered the Strike's cockpit.

Once the Strike was loaded on the launch catapult and fitted with the Aile Striker Pack, he told Miriallia he was going out as the catapult activated and threw the Aile Strike out of the Archangel to meet the ZAFT Forces.

* * *

The pilots watched as the Strike marched past them to the catapult hangar.

Once the roar of the catapult died down, Heero stood and threw the unneeded tools off the Wing Zero. Thankfully, none of the mechanics were around to hear the noise. "Who's finished?" He yelled at the others.

"Right… about… now!" Duo said with one last twist of the tool he was using.

As the others agreed that they were finished, Heero glanced at them. "So what do we do with these newly repaired Gundams?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Trowa asked simply.

"The question is: is the Wing Zero's transformation system repaired?" Duo asked worriedly.

"Well if we head out, we'll find out, won't we?" Wufei asked with a bit of snap in his tone.

Heero moved over to a control panel and worked on it for a few moments before heading back over to the Wing Zero.

The restraint system holding all five machines suddenly activated and the restraints were removed from them.

"Then let's get moving before they can stop us. I don't know what we'll find when we get out there, but it's better than sitting in here and going crazy." Heero said as he climbed into the Wing Zero's cockpit.

"That's the last thing we need: Heero with cabin fever." Duo said with a shake of his head as he leapt into the Deathscythe Hell.

Trowa and Quatre couldn't help but chuckle in amusement as they jumped into their respective suits.

Wufei simply rolled his eyes as he climbed into the Altron.

"_Ready?"_ Heero asked as the roar of the five Gundams activating resounded through the hangar.

"_Lead the way." _Trowa said simply as the Wing Zero rolled towards the catapult hangar, the gates separating the two regions opening as it got close.

Once in the catapult hangar, the Wing Zero's thrusters roared to life and it shot from the open launch wing. The Deathscythe Hell, Heavyarms, Sandrock and Altron followed behind quickly as the launch wing closed.

"_How'd you figure their system out?"_ Quatre asked Heero.

"_I watched them. They were testing one of those planes last night and I was in the hangar checking the Wing Zero's control panels. They never knew I was there. I simply entered what I saw them enter to override the bridge's control and open the hangar."_

Duo let out an impressed whistle. _"Now does the Wing Zero transform?"_ He asked.

"_There's only one way to know for sure…"_

The Wing Zero hovered for a few moments as the others landed on top of the Archangel's launch wing to wait. A few shrieks of metal grinding on metal greeted them, forcing them to cover their ears as the sound resounded in their cockpits, before the Wing Zero suddenly returned to its robot mode.

Cheers and relieved sighs were heard from the others before the suits turned towards the battle that had begun raging a short distance away from the Archangel.

"_Duo, check the Deathscythe Hell's stealth systems. We'll use it to our advantage."_ Heero ordered.

"_I figured you'd ask for that, good thing I fixed it!"_ Duo replied as the Deathscythe Hell suddenly vanished.

"_Remember to adjust your Gundam's weight for the sandy conditions or else the sand will take you down faster than those mobile suits will…"_ Quatre warned the others as he began making the adjustments to the Sandrock.

"_All right, let's go have some fun."_ Wufei said as the Altron's thrusters roared to life after he made his adjustments.

"_Hey Heero, are you going to just use the twin buster rifle the entire time?"_ Trowa asked curiously.

Heero smirked in cold amusement. _"Of course I'm not… if I did, that wouldn't leave much fun for the rest of you, now would it?"_

Trowa and the others chuckled in amusement.

"_All right then, since Heero's giving us some to play with: whoever brings the most enemies down doesn't have to do any repairs to his suit for a month!"_ Duo challenged the others.

They quickly agreed to the challenge, knowing it was meant as motivation for all of them to return from the foreign battlefield, under unknown conditions, alive. Soon all five Gundams took off and headed for the battlefield for the first time since they were created only a few months prior.

* * *

Murrue was distracted by issuing orders to the Archangel's crew, so she didn't notice any of the activity that was shown on her small monitor.

"Ma'am! Those Gundams are gone!" Sai said suddenly.

"What?!" Murrue yelled in shock before looking at the monitor. "Where are they headed?"

"It looks like they're going towards the battlefield!"

"Tell them to get back to the ship!" She snapped.

"We can't! We don't know their communication codes or what kind of system they're using!" Sai said with a shake of his head.

"Where's Lieutenant La Flaga?"

"He's in SkyGrasper 1 waiting for the okay to launch!" Chandra said quickly.

"Call him back to the bridge…" Murrue said with a sigh of defeat.

"But why? He should be on the battlefield assisting Kira, especially if those other five are enemies that were waiting for an attack signal!" Natarle protested.

Murrue shook her head. "He wouldn't stand a chance out there, he even said it himself." She said grimly.

"So we're just going to leave Kira to die by an ambush?" Kuzzey asked worriedly.

"We don't know their motivations! They could be going to help him. We have to take the wait and see approach… as much as that pains me. Aim some of the ship's guns at them just in case." Murrue said grimly as she ignored the protests from Mwu over the communication line.

_Kira… just please be careful out there… We can only hope you can handle yourself…_

She thought as she stared out at the battle.

* * *

Kira frowned as four new signals appeared on the radar, heading straight for the battlefield. His radar registered them as four of the five Gundams he had helped rescue.

_Why are they coming with their Gundams in such rough shape…?_

As he was distracted by the new arrivals, a BuCUE managed to get in close enough to avoid the Aile Strike's long range weapons without there being enough time for it to pull out any of its close ranged weapons.

Kira's eyes widened in horror as he saw the BuCUE's head-mounted beam sabres take aim at the Strike's cockpit.

A powerful long range blast destroyed the incoming BuCUE with ease, along with several others that happened to be nearby.

Kira stared at the strange Gundam that was leading the charge of the new suits. He quickly realized that the Wing Zero was a transforming Gundam, much like the Aegis was.

"_You really are a novice if you let a little distraction like a few incoming signals break your concentration in a life or death battle."_ Heero snapped icily as the Wing Zero blasted past, switching its twin buster rifle for its beam sabre.

"_Ouch. Heero? Giving out advice? That's really bad, kid. Get your act together before he kills you by 'accident'"_ Duo said as the Deathscythe Hell appeared, apparently out of thin air, and slashed at another BuCUE that had launched at Kira from behind.

"_Don't just stand there looking like a statue or else you'll die! We're not here to protect your weak hide!"_ Wufei yelled in irritation as the Altron's Dragon Claws struck home, destroying two BuCUEs.

The Heavyarms stayed back and launched a barrage from its Gatling gun, resulting in a stream of explosions wherever it was fired. Kira quickly snapped out of it and rejoined the fray.

"_The God of Death is back on the battlefield!"_ Duo roared as the Deathscythe Hell destroyed several suits with one swing.

Kira started to worry as the others started making comments about Duo's nickname; he wondered what Duo had done to garner such a nickname.

For every one the Strike brought down, it seemed as though the others were destroying far more.

_What the hell are they…?_

The potential answers that he came up with greatly worried him.

After a few moments of fighting, he finally realized that the amount of BuCUEs attacking was unusually large considering they were attacking a single Gundam and a weakened ship.

Kira quickly became secretly grateful for their aid, even if it came with some annoying tips and less-than-friendly pieces of advice from the older and more experienced Gundam pilots.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Sorry to fans of Birdy, but this is one of the only times it appears in the story. And yes, I had to throw in Duo's self-proclaimed status at least once in the story. And no, I will never refer to him as The Great Destroyer. That's just silly.

As for those wondering about what production-models the story Gundams are based off of: each Gundam has been designed to maintain their best performance in any environment without sacrificing certain weapons that had been sacrificed in previous incarnations. The creators of these Gundams have taken the greatest strengths of each of their incarnations (from the original five all the way up to the Customs) and melded them into one Gundam. Yeah. Be afraid.

The Deathscythe Hell is using the Custom's "wing" design because it's more appropriate for the Gundam. It wields the Custom's beam scythe and it retains the buster shield with the beam blade to use as a mid-ranged weapon.

As you can already tell, the Wing Zero takes its design from the original incarnation, but it does have several elements that made the Custom more dangerous, like the complex sensor arrays mounted to the forearms to increase the Twin Buster Rifle's accuracy.

The Heavyarms' arsenal is a combination of Heavyarms Kai and Custom, but it still retains the army knife for close-ranged combat. In fact, I've even increased that: both arms contain an army knife to increase its effectiveness.

The Sandrock regains its Cross Crusher, even though it's use doesn't explicitly happen in this story. It's actually one of the least changed Gundams.

The Altron's Dragon Claws mix the increased range and flexibility of Custom's renditions, while keeping the ability to use the flamethrowers from the original suit.

All of the suits (for the most part) retain the designs from their series incarnations. I know that this should have probably been posted in the first chapter, but I hadn't really thought about it in great detail until now. I hope that helps everyone!


	8. Dissention within the Ranks

Chapter 8: Dissention within the Ranks

Quatre sighed in exhaustion as the Gundams stood amidst the debris of many BuCUEs that were littered around the battlefield.

"_What's the score? I got about ten of them."_ Trowa said as the Heavyarms ran a systems check to ensure no damage was sustained in the battle.

"_I only managed to get about five of them."_ Quatre said. He was torn between being amused and wondering whether they needed a mental institution for the twisted game they had created.

"_I managed to get fifteen."_ Duo said, frowning over at the Altron and the Wing Zero as he wondered how many they got each.

"_Twenty five."_ Wufei said casually.

"He must have cheated…" Duo muttered under his breath. Because the Altron was a mid-ranged weapon, it definitely had an advantage. Since the other Gundams were short-ranged or long ranged with limits because of ammunition, they were at a serious disadvantage in their game.

"…_Forty."_

"Now I know he cheated…" Duo said as he glanced at the Wing Zero, which had been picking off the fleeing BuCUEs from the air as they tried to retreat.

"_Why does it not surprise me that Heero is the winner?"_ Trowa asked with a tone of amusement.

"_Hey kid, how many did you get?"_ Duo asked Kira as the Deathscythe Hell turned towards the Strike.

Kira had been listening to their conversation and was slightly disturbed by how lightly they seemed to take killing the people who had been piloting the suits they so mercilessly destroyed.

"_I… usually don't keep track of something like that…"_ Kira said warily.

Trowa frowned as he caught the tone of Kira's voice. _"Listen kid; don't get the wrong idea about us. We only did this so-called 'game' so we could all make it out of this battle alive. We haven't been on a field of battle in roughly four years. If we were rusty, this would have proven it, but no matter what condition we were in: we couldn't allow ourselves to die here."_ Trowa explained coolly. He realized that his emotional detachment to the world, that he thought he had gotten rid of, had begun to manifest itself again.

_I see… so I'm protecting myself again… I wonder if the others will begin to revert back to their old selves too…_

He thought as a cold, amused smile appeared on his face.

"_Are you guys afraid of death?"_ Kira asked in shock. He didn't expect them to be afraid of something they seemed to deal out so easily.

Laughter suddenly broke out from the pilots, causing him to wonder if he said something wrong.

"_Sorry kid, we lost that fear when we became what we are today. Sacrifice is an unwritten part of the job description. If you need examples, you're staring right at them: Heero self destructed one of his Gundams while he was still on it and, as you know now, Duo is the self-proclaimed God of Death. No, kid… we're not afraid of Death… we're just afraid of dying here, where nobody we care for would know… So I guess you could say we're more frightened of the prospect of leaving our friends and family with the torment of wondering whether we're dead or alive." _Trowa replied. The others remained silent for a moment.

"_If somebody threatens our lives, we will not hesitate to bring them down. Don't forget that… we absolutely refuse to die here."_ Heero warned, causing Kira to go slightly pale.

It was apparent that the warning was meant for him and the crew of the Archangel.

"_All right, let's head back."_ Quatre said with a business-like tone as the Sandrock turned back towards the Archangel.

A few moments passed before the others followed him.

After their reckless actions in the battle against ZAFT, the pilots of the Gundams were ordered to remain aboard the Archangel for a week.

They obeyed the order with no complaint, deciding to use the time to perfect some of the problems they had noticed during the battle instead.

During that week, the Archangel quickly found some new allies in the form of a group of rebels who had been fighting against ZAFT's rule of the area.

However, something else had been building while the Archangel was building up its allied forces… A strange and unexplainable tension had started to form aboard the Archangel. While most of the pilots managed to remain friendly enough, Heero and Wufei began to grow cold and distant towards the crew, who were having their own troubles after an incident occurred between Flay, Sai and Kira.

The pilots quickly became silent observers of the situation, choosing to remain neutral and stay out of their personal business.

Duo sat in a chair in the Archangel's lounge, his arm rested on the knee that he had pulled up near his chest as he watched Flay and Kira walk past. "Any bets on what the real reason for her sudden change in attitude is?" He asked grimly.

Trowa and Quatre frowned at the doorway.

"She's using him. It's easy to see that. It's just a matter of why she's doing it." Trowa said worriedly.

"I've heard her say it herself: she hates Co-ordinators. Maybe she blames Kira for that incident that happened in space, so she's trying to use his feelings for her against him in hopes that he'll get killed in battle…" Everyone stared over at the corner in surprise. Heero had been there, apparently asleep, but he was staring at them now with a frown.

"That would make sense… he'd be taking his fellow Co-ordinators with him, and nobody would be on the hook for murder." Wufei said as he closed his eyes.

"If that's true… then that girl is one sick chick…" Duo said weakly.

"However, we don't know her reasons for certain, so we can't confront her about them even if they are as ill-intentioned as Heero suggests." Trowa said calmly, however he too was disturbed by Heero's suggestion.

"What about going after him?" Quatre asked worriedly.

"Forget it. He's blinded by her. He wouldn't be able to see her for what she really is even if she was holding a gun to his head." Wufei said dismissively.

"Damn kid should know better… being what he is and the situation they're in… he shouldn't get close to anyone, even if they're on his side. He should be especially wary of somebody who has openly admitted to hating him and his people." Duo growled.

"You're one to talk." Trowa said with a hint of a sly smile.

Duo blushed slightly as he looked away, burying half of his face into his shoulder. "That's a completely different situation…" His voice was muffled by his shoulder, but the others couldn't help but smile in amusement at his embarrassment. Duo sighed. "Man… I miss her…"

The smiles quickly faded. "I think we all miss those closest to us…" Quatre said sadly.

Heero suddenly stood and began to leave.

"Where are you going?" Wufei asked as the others stared warily at him.

"To check on the Wing Zero…" He said before walking out into the hallway.

"Duo, Trowa, tail him." Quatre tensely ordered.

Duo and Trowa glanced at each other before nodding and leaving.

"So, you think he's going to do something stupid, hmm?" Wufei asked.

Quatre nodded. "I sincerely hope not… but we can't take a risk. He's the most likely to confront Kira or her…" His expression grew grim as he watched the empty doorway.

Kira was walking around a part of the ship that was rarely manned because it was deemed unnecessary with the limited crew they had to work with. He liked the quiet this part of the ship offered, it allowed him to have some alone time to think. He froze when he realized he wasn't alone, turning to see Heero standing at the other end of the hallway.

"What are you doing here?" Kira asked him warily as the older man approached.

"I came to talk." Heero said coolly.

Kira tensed at his tone, but Heero removed his hands from his pockets, showing that his only weapon was the gun tightly secured in the holster on his leg.

Kira relaxed, but only slightly. Something about the older pilot always made him feel like he was going to be shot in the back if he took his eyes off of him, even if it was only for a second. "What do you want to talk about?"

"That Flay Allster girl… you need to wake up and realize that she's using you."

Kira's eyes narrowed as Heero stopped within physical striking distance. "Why don't you and your friends stay out of my business?"

"Because, sadly we seem to have taken an interest in you for your piloting skills, so we're trying to save you from your stupidity." Heero snapped icily.

Kira's hands turned into fists, but he kept them at his side. "Why would you care? You don't know the hell I've been through! She's the only one who understands what I'm going through!"

That was apparently the last straw for Heero. Suddenly, he grabbed Kira by the throat and slammed the younger pilot roughly into the wall, knocking the wind out of him. "You're the one who doesn't know. Remember: we're pilots too. We know exactly what you're going through." He growled.

Kira flinched away from the dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Despite what she's leading you to think, she doesn't. We know that all too well. What we don't know is why she's using you, but it's obvious that's exactly what she's doing. Wake up you stupid kid before she gets you killed."

Kira kicked Heero in the stomach, forcing the older pilot to back off before another kick to the chest sent him hard into the opposite wall.

Heero slid down the wall with a thick trail of blood following his descent, causing Kira to pale in shock at what he had done.

As he went to check to see if Heero was all right, Heero's fist made contact with Kira's face, forcing him back.

Kira held his broken nose gingerly as the older pilot stood and glared at him. Kira was suddenly very fearful for his life as he stared into Heero's emotionless eyes. Kira ducked under another fist, only to be knocked back by a knee to the chin. He got his focus back just in time to grab Heero's leg as it aimed a kick to his head.

Heero's eyes narrowed as Kira removed one of his hands with the intention of snapping the older pilot's knee. With speed only seen in experienced hand-to-hand fighters, Heero grabbed the handrail behind him and used his free leg to strike Kira in the side, forcing him to let go of Heero's other leg.

Both fighters dropped to the floor heavily, glaring at each other.

Kira was getting tired, having never been in a fight like this before, while Heero seemed like he could keep going despite the wound to his head.

Both fighters charged each other, getting locked together as they blocked each other's attacks.

Kira felt the need to shake his head to clear it as the blood flowing from his nose began to make him feel light headed, but he resisted. He knew that one false move would spell the end for him against the more experienced fighter, especially since he didn't seem to be affected by his head wound at all.

Hurried footsteps revealed Duo and Trowa, who slid to stop quickly before running towards them.

Duo grabbed Heero at the same time Trowa grabbed Kira, forcing the two apart and pinning them against opposite walls to prevent them from trying to escape.

"Why aren't we surprised by this?" Duo growled as he struggled against Heero, actually slipping a few inches before he could shift to a better stance.

"It's probably because these two seemed to have it in for each other ever since we set foot on this ship." Trowa growled as he too had to shift to a stronger stance as Kira struggled against him.

More hurried footsteps revealed Quatre, Wufei and several members of the Archangel crew including Murrue, Mwu and Natarle who looked furious by the two pilots' behaviours.

Before any of them could reprimand the two fighters, Heero's eyes rolled into his head and he slumped into Duo's arms.

"Heero!" Quatre yelled worriedly as Duo stared at the wound in horror.

"That's not good… sorry about this!" He said quickly, grabbing Murrue's sleeve and forcefully ripped it from her uniform.

As he applied pressure to the wound, Quatre asked her to lead the way to the medical unit.

"Damnit Heero… you stubborn jackass…" Duo growled as Wufei helped him tie the sleeve around Heero's head to slow the bleeding before setting Heero's unconscious form on Duo's back.

"You too, Kira." Mwu snapped as Murrue lead the way.

Kira was pale from the blood loss, but he nodded slowly and followed, using the method Trowa was teaching him to stem the blood flow.

"That was one hell of a blow…" Wufei commented as he stared at Heero's blood-soaked back.

"How long after you started fighting did he receive that?" Trowa questioned Kira grimly.

"Not too long after… but he didn't seem affected by it at all…" Kira said worriedly.

"That's Heero for you. He'll run around on a broken leg for days before getting it looked after." Quatre said, shaking his head as they trotted towards the infirmary.

"By the way kid, just a warning… be thankful it was just a broken nose and maybe a few other minor wounds. Heero was obviously holding back."

Kira frowned. "I was too… except for the kick that gave him that wound…"

The other pilots looked at each other in concern. If they had gone all out, they could have killed each other before anyone could arrive to stop them…

* * *

**Update:** Please read my profile for the reasons as to why there is no new chapter this week. I update my profile every week with the status on my various projects, so please take the time to actually read it.

**Author's Notes:** Hooray for new content! This is the chapter that was cut in the first two editions of this story (for obvious reasons), but it also includes the scene which started this whole saga in the first place. The scene in which Heero initally slams Kira into the wall was basically the only scene that I had to work with when I thought "Holy crap! That'd be an awesome idea!" and began writing the first edition of Winged Destiny. It appeared to me randomly in a dream and it has stuck with me all this time. I felt kinda sad in the first two editions because I was forced to cut it simply because I wasn't comfortable with human vs. human fighting. Hell, back then, it was even hard for me to do mobile suit vs. mobile suit combat. I'm still trying to get comfortable with it, but I was comfortable enough this time to include the infamous "scene that started it all".

**Before I see any complaints in the reviews, I did a lot of studying to make sure the fight was mostly accurate.** I know somebody in the military trained in hand-to-hand, and asked them about the last move Heero pulled. It is entirely possible to do that if you have the level of skill Heero has shown to have on multiple occasions. And yes, even minor headwounds like the one Heero received can bleed profusely (my brother had one when he was younger, so I know this from personal experience), so even though it was basically just a gash, it bled a lot. Even the 'mighty' Heero Yuy can't hold out too long from a head wound.

Sorry the fight was so short, but it wouldn't have lasted long even if they hadn't shown up. I hope you enjoyed it though!


	9. Confinement

Chapter 9: Confinement

Heero regained consciousness, but kept his eyes closed, to a very familiar sensation: being bound to a bed. He wasn't surprised by his situation either. He had begun to get dizzy and faint during his fight with Kira and was secretly thankful for Duo and Trowa's interference. Everything else after their arrival was a complete blank. He didn't even know who else came to the scene. He recognised the hushed voices that were in the room as those of the other pilots'.

"Any bets that he's conscious, but he's doing that trick he did before?" Duo asked.

"What trick?" Quatre asked curiously.

"He can regain consciousness, but he controls his body so that if he's captured while wounded and placed in a medical ward, they won't know he's conscious until he's breaking out and kicking their asses." Duo explained.

"Nice trick." Wufei's voice held an impressed tone to it.

"It's a survival tactic I was trained in." Heero said as he opened his eyes.

Everyone looked down at him as the monitor's numbers began to indicate a conscious state.

"Damn, I could have won…" Duo grumbled, but he had a relieved expression on his face.

"It's good to see you're awake. Although you'll probably be wishing you were still out of it when the Captain gets through with you…" Quatre said warningly.

"Oh really… I'm not surprised."

"Kira's under arrest, he's locked in his room. And he'll be there for at least a month. You really took it easy on him. He got away with only a few fractured ribs and his broken nose."

Trowa said with a shake of his head.

"Aside from my head injury, I have several minor wounds to my upper body, don't I?"

"What, are you self-diagnosing yourself now?" Duo asked in disdain.

"I can feel them. It's not that hard for somebody who's been injured as often as I have been to notice where injuries are and how severe they are."

"You're right. The wound to your head wasn't as bad as we thought, but you know as well as we do that any wound to the head bleeds a lot. Other than that, you'll be bruised for quite a while, and it'll be hard to sit up for a few more days, at least by normal people's standards." Wufei said with a shake of his head.

"It's been a week, by the way. When you awoke, she was told your sentence will be handed out. You've got the same punishment as Kira. We're in charge of defending the Archangel until your sentence is finished." Trowa instructed boredly as he looked at a sheet of paper.

"Not to mention the lecture she'll throw at you when she arrives." Duo said with a grin.

"Can you handle it?" Quatre asked in concern.

"I'll be fine." Heero said, closing his eyes.

"Then we're getting the hell out of here. She should have been alerted when your stats started to climb." Duo said as he opened the door to the infirmary and left, followed quickly by the others.

Heero smiled slightly in amusement at their quick retreat as he waited for Murrue to appear so he could get her lecture over with.

* * *

After the medical team gave Heero the green light to be taken to a separate room, Heero spent the month thinking up ways for them to breach the increased security so they could make their escape once they were free of ZAFT's territory.

Finally, Murrue came one day and removed the bindings that kept Heero confined to the bunk, although the injury he sustained to his head had been more effective in keeping him confined to his bed than the bindings: which he could have freed himself from at any time. "I'd advise you to stay away from Kira for a while, but I know that is hard to do aboard a ship, so just please try to avoid any contact with him even if you pass him in the hall. I've already requested the same of him." Murrue pleaded as Heero rubbed his wrist to regain the feeling in it.

So many things he hadn't experienced since the war and now he was experiencing all of them at nearly the same time.

_The feeling of nostalgia I've been experiencing recently is almost laughable…_

He thought, keeping his expression neutral so she didn't jump to the wrong conclusion.

"Fine… I'll do what I can to avoid him aboard the ship… as for on the battlefield, it'll be like the Strike isn't even there." He said, keeping his tone as neutral as he could.

"Just as long as the Strike doesn't end up 'accidentally' destroyed…" She said in warning before leaving the room.

Duo and the others entered after she left. "Hey pal, so you're free to get your ass kicked again?" Duo asked as he stood beside Heero's bed.

"Hmph." Heero grabbed Duo's shoulder roughly, using him as a support to help him stand.

"Jeeze, next time warn me when you're going to do that!" Duo growled in irritation once he let go, allowing him to rub his shoulder.

"So what are your plans now?" Trowa asked as Heero walked out of the room with the others right behind him.

"We'll keep a low profile. Once we're out of Africa, we'll decide when to leave. Hopefully our departure will be a quiet one…"

Trowa shook his head. "We'll have to be extra careful, then."

The others nodded as they headed to the hangar so they could examine the defence system under the guise of examining their Gundams.

* * *

Heero was walking the halls of the Archangel by himself later that evening, finding that walking was better for his head.

_That kid certainly is impressive… I shouldn't have taken him so lightly…_

He thought, touching the wrappings at the back of his head. He glanced behind him as he realized he was being followed.

Flay stood behind him, glaring dangerously at him.

"What do you want?" He asked icily as he turned to face her.

She walked up to him and slapped him. However, he had braced himself for it, so all she ended up doing was hurting her hand.

She rubbed her hand with a wince. "Don't you dare talk to Kira ever again… or else I'll…" She hissed.

"Do what? You can't do anything to us." Heero said, keeping his tone as icy as possible.

She seemed to balk at his tone before lunging forward and grabbing the gun from his leg holster. She backed away as though she was afraid he would grab it from her as she pointed it at his chest. "I'll shoot you. Nobody would care. Nobody would know it was me." She said shakily.

"My allies would. Besides… do you honestly think an experienced soldier like me would actually be stupid enough to have a gun with live ammunition out in the open like that?" He asked, pulling out the gun from behind his back and aiming it right at her head.

The soft click of the safety being removed made her lose her nerve as she collapsed to her knees in fear.

He walked up to her with the gun still trained on her head, grabbing the decoy gun and putting it back in the holster. "Eventually he'll realize what we said to him was true, and then you'll get what you deserve… which, at this point, I hope is definitely worse than death." He said to her as he began walking away, replacing the gun behind his back and resetting the safety.

As Heero turned the corner and vanished, Flay stared at the floor in a state of shock.

_How could they have seen through me so easily?_

She thought in frustration. She quickly composed herself as she stood and began to walk hastily in the opposite direction.

* * *

As the chaos aboard the Archangel settled down, the pilots noticed that the tension had completely vanished.

Duo worked his shoulders in relief as they stood on one of the balconies the Archangel had. "Man that was a rough time."

Quatre nodded. "I agree. Although I wish it had broken under better circumstances…"

Trowa stood slightly apart from the other two, and Wufei lay sound asleep nearby.

"What are you guys talking about?" Cagalli Yula Athha asked as she appeared. She was one of the leaders of the rebels and had met Kira before Heliopolis was destroyed.

Duo waved her question away dismissively. "You wouldn't understand. So, what brings you out here?" He asked curiously.

"I just wanted to see the desert one last time…" She said sadly.

"Let me guess: because of the way things have been going for him, you think this Desert Tiger guy will show up to lead the next attack against us?" Duo asked.

Quatre noticed from Duo's tone that his question was asked half-absently, making him wonder where the other half of Duo's attention was.

Cagalli nodded, not noticing anything odd about Duo's tone. "That's almost a certainty…"

"It's just a matter of when and where, then…" Trowa said with a shake of his head.

"What are you going to do if he does come?" Cagalli asked curiously.

"Leave him to the kid. We'll defend the ship." Trowa said with a shrug.

"The Archangel and its crew helped us in our time of need, so we consider defending the ship as our way of paying it back. However, once we're out of Africa, we're going to remove ourselves from battle. We're staying out of your fight once we're out of enemy territory." Quatre explained as he stared out at the sea of sand.

Cagalli nodded in understanding. "I had heard rumours around the ship, but I couldn't bring myself to believe them… until talking with you three just now."

"I can guess what rumours you're talking about too. They're true. That's all we have to say on that matter." Wufei said as he awoke.

Before he could say anymore, the alarms in the Archangel went off.

"Showtime…" Duo said grimly as he and the others ran back into the Archangel.

Cagalli stared out at the sands as a cloud of dust became visible through the haze of the heat…

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I'm aware the chapter is short, so please don't remind me. Flay is a girl who is missing some of her screws, I'm aware of that too. Though she rarely shows it, it does show up every now and again whenever she's pressed too far, and the A.C. pilots know just how to push her to that point without even trying. Anyways, apologies for last week and the lateness this week. Just remember if the chapter isn't posted by Tuesday to check my profile. I leave my important messages on there.

**Author's Replies:** To all of those who enjoyed the fight, I thank you. To those of you who believe that Heero can kick Kira's ass... remember that he's the "Ultimate Co-ordinator". He's not a normal one. He's physically stronger, faster and more intelligent than normal Co-ordinators. After long discussions with my fellow Gundam-savvy friends, we agreed that in a hand-to-hand fight, neither Heero nor Kira would win. It would be a draw because it's a more experienced fighter vs. a stronger fighter. Again, also remember that they weren't really seriously fighting each other. In a Gundam battle? Yes. Wing Zero would kick the Strike's ass. Hands down. But hand-to-hand is different. If you don't like it, then simply don't read that chapter. That's all I've got to say.


	10. the Desert Tiger

Chapter 10: the Desert Tiger

Mwu in SkyGrasper 1, Kira in the Aile Strike, and the other Gundams launched to meet the ZAFT forces head on.

"_There doesn't seem like there'd be much for us to do aside from destroy incoming attacks…"_ Trowa admitted as they began destroying the helicopters that were coming at the Archangel.

"_Did he send everything he had at us in that last attack?"_ Quatre asked in disbelief.

"_Hmph! Is that what passes for an infamous soldier in this place? It's a disgrace!"_ Wufei snapped angrily.

"_Go on Kira, we got the ship. You should be able to handle those mobile suits easily."_ Duo said boredly.

"_Why doesn't he just use that rifle?"_ Kira asked in annoyance as the Wing Zero set aside the twin buster rifle.

"_Because it's too powerful… I'd end up killing those rebels too."_ Heero explained calmly as the Wing Zero destroyed several helicopters with one swing of its beam sabre.

Kira scowled at Heero's calm demeanour.

"_Holy shit she moves fast…"_ Duo commented as he noticed Cagalli in one of the jeeps that the rebels were using.

"_I just hope she doesn't get herself killed. She reminds me of another highly spirited girl…"_ Duo rolled his eyes at Trowa's hint.

"_Just keep the artillery away from the ship; we'll handle anything that gets past the kid."_ Heero said coolly as the Wing Zero fired its head-mounted machine guns, taking out a few missiles that had gotten past the Heavyarms' attacks.

Because of it's inability to fight unless the enemies got close, the Sandrock stood on the Archangel and observed the Strike's fighting pattern. He frowned as he switched over to their private line. _"Is it me or does Kira seem to have two completely different fighting styles?"_ He asked in concern.

"_You've noticed it too, huh?"_ Wufei asked as the flamethrowers finished off the last of the aerial units.

"_He's a good fighter normally, but when he's backed into a corner he seems to become as skilled and resourceful as we are."_ Trowa said casually as the Heavyarms took its time in selecting targets in order to conserve on ammunition. He had managed to secure some compatible ammunition from the crew just in case his own ran out, but he didn't want to waste what the Heavyarms had left from the previous battle.

"_I'd hate to admit it, but if he had a few more years' experience on him, he'd be one hell of an opponent."_ Heero said casually as they watched the Strike took out the mobile suits that the Desert Tiger had brought with him.

* * *

Suddenly, the Archangel lurched, causing the pilots to curse in annoyance as one of the ships appeared from behind the Archangel.

"_Well, it looks as though this Desert Tiger guy really does have some tricks up his sleeve."_ Wufei admitted, unable to hide the impressed tone in his voice as the Wing Zero and Deathscythe Hell headed for the rear of the ship to help protect it.

Duo cursed as the Deathscythe Hell was forced to fold one of its wings to act like a shield as an unexpected barrage of missiles attacked.

"_Well, well… it looks as though he does have some reinforcements."_ Heero said idly as the Wing Zero lunged towards a group of incoming BuCUEs.

"_Sorry Archangel, we have to take care of these guys, will you be able to handle your own?"_ Quatre asked worriedly.

"_We'll be fine, don't worry."_ Murrue replied as the Archangel's hangar opened to release the second SkyGrasper.

"_Who the hell?"_ Duo asked in confusion.

"_It's me. I'll help Lieutenant La Flaga; you guys go get those BuCUEs."_ Cagalli answered, causing the older pilots to shake their heads.

"_She's going to get herself killed that way."_ Wufei growled in annoyance.

"_Thanks for your concern, but I can handle myself."_ Cagalli snapped with a strong hint of sarcasm at Wufei.

* * *

Switching back to their private channel, the Gundams abandoned their places on the Archangel and joined the Wing Zero in the battle against the BuCUEs.

"_There aren't many of them."_ Trowa admitted warily.

"_Here, save your ammunition."_ Quatre said as the Sandrock tossed the Heavyarms one of its Heat Shotels.

"_Thanks, Quatre."_ Trowa replied as the Heavyarms caught the sickle-like blade just in time to run it through a BuCUE that thought the Heavyarms would be easy pickings.

The Altron grabbed two BuCUEs with its dragon claws and slammed them together. As they sparked from the damage to their systems, the Altron tossed them towards a third BuCUE. Before it could dodge, the other two exploded, destroying all three.

"_Hey guys, it looks as though the Desert Tiger himself has appeared."_ Duo observed as the Deathscythe Hell sliced a BuCUE in half.

The others took note of the LaGOWE as it ran circles around the Strike.

"_Duo, you've got the fastest Gundam, go give him a hand. And make it a surprise."_

Duo grinned at Heero's instructions. _"Fine by me!"_ He said before the Deathscythe Hell vanished.

Before any of the BuCUEs could note the absence of one of their attackers, the other Gundams fell in hard on them, making sure that staying alive was their only concern.

* * *

Kira gritted his teeth as the LaGOWE was putting heavy pressure on him. He really didn't want to be in this situation, but since he had been forced into it, he was trying his hardest to disable the four-legged mobile suit without harming the pilot inside. He frowned in annoyance as the Strike's communication system gave off three quick sounds of radio static. "What the heck? Please don't be malfunctioning…" He muttered worriedly as the LaGOWE pounced, aiming at him.

Before the Strike could deflect the blow, the LaGOWE was suddenly thrown, rolling over once before recovering, the head scanning for whatever it was that had attacked.

Kira rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had been imagining the strange rippling that he had seen following the impact.

Suddenly, the Deathscythe Hell materialized from behind the LaGOWE, its scythe raised over its head for only a moment before swinging down towards the wolf-like mobile suit.

The LaGOWE sped away just in time, forcing the blade to slice through nothing but air.

Kira heard a few curses from his communication system.

"_Kid, can you try and help me pin him?"_ Duo asked as the Deathscythe Hell chased after the LaGOWE with its blade slightly ahead as though it hoped to slice through it from behind.

"_Why are you helping me?"_ Kira asked warily.

"_Because we don't wanna see you dead. Hell, it was Heero who wanted me to come help you in the first place."_ Duo's reply caught Kira off guard, enabling the LaGOWE's attacks from the beam cannons on its back to hit home.

"_Hey, hey! What did we tell you about keeping your focus? I'm here to help you out, not bail you out!"_ Duo snapped in annoyance as the Deathscythe Hell managed to get close enough to destroy one of the cannons before it slipped away again.

"_S-sorry!"_ Kira said as he quickly regained focus and rejoined the fight against the LaGOWE.

* * *

"_My power's running low!"_ Kira said worriedly after he took a hit from the LaGOWE that was attacking the Strike while dodging the Deathscythe Hell.

"_Hang in there, kid. I'm starting to think that thing ain't piloted by just one person. It'd be impossible for it to do what it's doing otherwise."_ Duo growled in frustration.

"_A little update from us over here, we're going to help Mwu. The girl's been shot down and apparently two of those stolen suits are with that other ship. They look like they're retreating though, so we'll probably just keep an eye on that retreat."_ Quatre said.

"_Thanks for the heads up."_ Duo said before turning his attention back to the Strike.

"_Since you don't seem to have much power left, I'll herd him towards you. My Gundam's faster than yours, but this damn mobile suit has better mobility than either of us. You'll have to be the one to finish him off."_

Before Kira could protest, the Deathscythe Hell began doing exactly what its pilot had said he would do, blocking any attempts at getting far enough away to fire its remaining beam cannon.

Kira tried to reason with Andrew, but as the power ran out on his suit, he had no choice but to stab its regular knife into the LaGOWE's head.

The LaGOWE exploded as the Deathscythe Hell escorted the Strike away from the scene.

* * *

The Archangel wasn't moving for some time as they had to repair the damage to the ship and collect the damaged SkyGrasper, so the Deathscythe Hell stopped the Strike and Duo asked Kira to leave the cockpit so they could talk.

The other four Gundams joined them as they stood near the Archangel. Kira was finding it hard to fight back the tears as he stood with the older pilots. "Does it get any easier?" He asked.

The others glanced at each other. Duo, Trowa and Quatre shook their heads. "If it does, then get as far away from fighting as you can." Quatre said grimly.

"It only becomes easier to ignore the pain, that's all. Even those of us who've been fighting since we could hold a gun know it's impossible not to feel something for the people you kill." Trowa admitted.

To Kira's surprise, Heero nodded in agreement with Trowa.

"The amount of blood on our hands ain't coming off no matter what we would try to do to try and wash it off now." Duo said with a half-hearted shrug.

"The only thing you can do is hope the war ends before the body count you've racked up becomes too high." Wufei said coolly.

"But I-!" Kira began before Heero raised a hand to silence him.

"What's done is done. All you can do is praise his skill in battle, and then move on. There will be more to come before the war ends, and you can't grieve for every person you kill." Heero's icy tone made Kira want to punch him again, until Quatre spoke.

"I hate saying this, but Heero's right. For pilots who are as skilled as Mr. Waltfeld was, all you can do is praise his skills, and then get ready for the next battlefield. You will face a lot more opponents; some of them will be more skilled than he was, unless you run away from the battle."

"I can't-!"

"Then you'll take our advice. We've been doing this for a long time; admittedly some of us have been on a field of battle for longer than you've been alive. If you want to continue to fight to protect your friends, and keep your sanity, you'll learn to take the advice of those who've been fighting longer than you have." Trowa said sternly.

Kira dropped his gaze to avoid looking at their grim expressions. After a few moments of silence, he nodded before sullenly returning to the Strike. As the Strike left, the others sighed.

"Man, I hate doing the whole 'tough love' approach." Duo grumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck to ease the tension that had settled there.

"We had to do it though. I just hope he takes the advice to heart. It'll be hard, but it'll keep him from doing anything stupid." Quatre said as he folded his arms across his chest.

Trowa shook his head. "Deciding to counter that Flay girl's influence this way may backfire on us."

"At least he doesn't suspect that's what we're doing. Plus, the advice we gave him is correct: all you can do is ignore the pain of what you've done until all the battles are fought. What you decide to do after that is completely up to you." Wufei admitted.

The others nodded in agreement before returning to their Gundams. They may have defeated the Desert Tiger, but the forces that had retreated were still out there, and could regroup and attack before they could get out to the ocean…

* * *

**Author's Note:** They're finally moving out of Africa. Yay! What will happen next? I'm not telling, and veteran readers please keep quiet. ;)

Anyone who wants to argue about the Deathscythe Hell being the fastest of the Gundams needs to compare their stats carefully. It is faster than the Wing Zero by ten points when compared to a Leo's stats (For those who don't know, a Leo is 100 points on all of its stats). And anyone wanting to argue about the LaGOWE's better mobility had better read this carefully: with two pilots, the LaGOWE has better mobility because single piloted suits need to worry about their weapon and mobility functions, whereas the two piloted LaGOWE has one person to worry about each of those things, increasing reaction time significantly. There's my explanantion. *bows* If you don't like it, oh well. It's the best handwave I could come up with.


	11. Reflections

Chapter 11: Reflections

The Archangel soared low over the waters of the Indian Ocean, causing waves to form around the prow of the ship. They were now heading towards Alaska, the home of the Earth Forces. With the threat of ZAFT hopefully long behind them, everyone aboard the ship took some time to think about things that were important to them, the thoughts that had been pushed aside because of the conflict with ZAFT, Andrew Waltfeld and each other…

* * *

Duo allowed a yawn to escape from him as he lay on one of the balconies, enjoying the ocean breeze. It was a much needed change from the desert air they had been forced to endure for such a long time. He sat up to watch the ocean disappear beneath the Archangel's hull.

_I wonder if we've been considered dead back home yet… Damn… this must be killing Hilde…_

He sighed and shook his head.

_All we can do for now is hope we can survive this war long enough to find a way to return home. I just hope the situation there hasn't deteriorated beyond our aid by then…_

He stood and went over to the railing, leaning on it to watch a few small uninhabited islands speed by.

_I'm sure Howard and the rest of the Sweepers are taking good care of her for me…All I can do is hope that everything is fine. But I hate that! We need to do something soon…_

The roar of thrusters caught his attention just as the Wing Zero, in its Neo-Bird Mode, flew by.

"Damnit Heero, you're always ruining the good views!" He yelled at the tail of the Wing Zero as it turned and vanished from view.

He braced himself as the wind currents generated by the Wing Zero's speed blew past. Once it died down, he sighed.

"Glad to know some things haven't changed." He said sarcastically as he decided to go inside before the Wing Zero came around the ship again.

* * *

Quatre waved goodbye as he left the lounge. He had been talking with some of the crew while they were on their break period. His smile faded as he walked away from the lounge and he was left with his thoughts.

_Rashid and the others must be so worried… I hope they're holding together well. They've probably already activated the contingency plan I had set up just in case something happened to me. It's going to be hell to retake the company if they have…_

A little chuckle of amusement escaped him as he shook his head.

_It's strange that I'm more concerned about the Winner Corporation than I am about actually making it home… it's amazing how much my priorities have changed in the last four years…_

He paused at a window and stared out it just in time to see the tail end of the Wing Zero fly past.

_I don't know if we'll make it home… so Rashid… please take care of everyone for me…_

He thought as he continued down the hallway, seeing Cagalli walking up ahead.

"Cagalli! Wait up!" He sped up to catch her as she paused and turned back to look at him.

* * *

Trowa sat alone in their room, cleaning his gun, even though it had yet to be fired.

_Things have been… interesting… to say the least… We've been so busy lately; it's nice to be able to relax, even if it's only for a short time._

He closed one eye as he examined the barrel of his gun carefully to make sure there was nothing wrong with it.

_I wonder how the circus is managing without me…_

He sighed as he moved on to another piece. _I do my job too well. Anyone who they've brought in would be harshly criticized. It almost makes me feel sorry for any replacement they bring in._

An amused smile appeared on his face.

_Catharine and the others are resilient; I know that all too well. They'd keep the show going even if it was in the midst of a battlefield. I don't have to worry about them. I just have to remain focused on the current situation. And live to return home._

The amusement was replaced with determination as Trowa began piecing his gun back together. With a final click as the ammunition clip was locked into place, Trowa placed the gun behind his back and stood.

"It's almost time… I guess we'll learn what the future holds in due time…" He muttered before leaving their room.

* * *

Wufei stared down the cold steel blade of his katana. He had hidden the katana away within the Altron's cockpit as a precaution in case a situation such as the one they now found themselves in arose. He had holed himself up in an unused room so he could practice.

_The others are probably wishing we could go home… but honestly: I missed this. The thrill of battle isn't something one can easily forget. The Gundams are essentially useless in our universe because the Defence Council gets rid of any resistance before it gets to the point where we're needed. Our skills are going to waste as we wait for something to happen. Here, at least, our skills are being put to good use. We can't keep fighting forever. Our time for being soldiers is limited because our bodies can only take so much. I want to keep fighting until that day comes, so long as the cause is right…_

After a few more frustrated slashes of his katana, he sheathed the katana and slung it over his shoulder.

"So tonight is the night… this will prove to be interesting…" He muttered to himself before leaving the room.

* * *

To avoid Kira and Flay, Heero took it upon himself to patrol the region around the Archangel just in case something got past its radars. He was especially on the alert for this universe's equivalent of the Deathscythe Hell, as he knew what to look for if it came.

_Hmph… I wonder what's wrong with me. Normally, I would never have involved myself in the personal issues of others…_

He frowned in irritation.

_I wonder if that means I'm going soft… Four years of peace, despite the profession I've chosen, seems to have taken its toll on me._

He noticed Duo standing by the railing of one of the balconies and shifted the Wing Zero's path slightly to bring it closer to his position. As he passed, he zoomed in on Duo to see that his fellow pilot was yelling angrily at him. A slight smile mixing amusement and satisfaction formed, but it quickly faded as he resumed his hunt for enemies.

_Relena and the others have been a bad influence on me. My training's been compromised thanks to them… it makes me worried…_

His grip on the Wing Zero's flight controls tightened.

_Relena entrusted leading the others to me, even though none of us need a specific leader… If my training has been compromised, I don't want to take the risk of accidentally leading them into a suicide scenario in this universe. Maybe it would be better for us to split up, that way I can have time to relearn my training. A soldier who has lost his edge in battle is a dead soldier. I can't afford to let that happen…_

He could only shake his head, forcing the thoughts away.

"Archangel, I'm returning." He said simply before the Wing Zero began to dive towards the hangar wing.

* * *

Cagalli sighed as she stood on another of the Archangel's balconies.

_Things have been getting so out of hand lately… I sometimes wonder why I'm here…_

She glanced behind her as she heard footsteps.

"Oh, it's just you…"

"Hmph… Are you in a bad mood today, Cagalli?" Ledonir Kisaka, a fellow rebel and her guard, asked as he approached.

She shook her head. "No… I've just been thinking about everything that's been going on. Things have been so chaotic ever since we joined up with the Archangel."

Ledonir nodded. "What do you think Uzumi would say about this situation?"

Cagalli frowned. "He's the last person I want to think about right now. We just have to worry about what the Archangel is going to do next."

He chuckled. "That's fine. If the Archangel should run into trouble, will you step in?"

She shrugged. "I don't know… I guess it depends on where we are if it runs into trouble." She sighed as she shook her head. "I'm going back in." She said before walking past him and back into the ship.

Kisaka sighed as he watched a few sea birds fly past.

_She's as headstrong as her father is…_

He smiled in amusement.

Cagalli was walking the hallways, not really knowing where she wanted to go, when Quatre called out to her. She paused and looked back at him, wondering what one of the pilots could want with her.

* * *

Mwu sighed as he stared at the Gundams while he waited for Murdoch to arrive.

_Those guys… We don't know anything about them… the only thing we do know is that they're obviously more skilled than we thought they were. For that Heero man to have taken on Kira and held his own…_

An involuntary shudder ran through him.

_How can five men, so vastly different in personality and views, be able to fight together so well? It's almost impossible to comprehend it. Hell, even a seasoned fighter like me would always have problems on the battlefield with somebody I don't agree with off the battlefield…_

He shook his head.

_I just can't figure them out. I don't know if that's how they want it or if it's just because they're just that different from us…_

"All we can hope is that they don't turn against us…" He muttered.

"You're right about that. Or at least we get to see what makes their Gundams function like they do without a battery pack before they leave." Murdoch replied as he stood beside Mwu.

Mwu smiled in amusement at the mechanic. "I should have known you'd wanna know about them."

"I tried asking them, but they refused. They wouldn't even let me look at their blueprints!"

Mwu chuckled. "You should know better. A pilot charged with something like these would never allow anyone else to see how they were engineered. It prevents them from enhancing their own weaponry."

Murdoch shrugged in defeat. "True… come on; the SkyGraspers are repaired and ready to get back into the action."

"Great! It's about time!" Mwu said happily as Murdoch lead the way to where the SkyGraspers were. Mwu took one last glance back at the Gundams before following with a shake of his head.

* * *

Murrue watched the Wing Zero fly past the bridge again with irritation. She had told him it was an unnecessary waste of energy, but he promptly ignored her and had begun patrolling the ship.

_Isn't there anyone who can control that man?_

She thought in frustration.

_Then again, all of them seem to have a problem with authority… even the nice ones._

She sighed as she looked around the bridge. A shift change had happened and the secondary crew was on hand, so none of Kira's friends were on the bridge. She was worried about Kira. He hadn't come out of his room very often for fear of running into Heero and causing trouble again.

Natarle stood beside her. "Are you all right, Captain?"

Murrue nodded. "I'm fine, Natarle. How are you?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me, ma'am."

Murrue chuckled. "I worry about all of my crew. You know that."

"So what do you intend to do about them?" Natarle asked with a frown as the Wing Zero passed by again.

"Honestly? I want them to stay." Murrue raised a hand to silence Natarle, who appeared to be on the verge of protesting. "In our situation, we can use all the help we can get… even if it is from trouble makers like them."

Natarle knew she couldn't argue with that reasoning. Before she could respond, Heero notified them he was returning.

"Understood." Murrue said as she ordered the hangar wing opened. "We'll decide what will happen when the time comes." She said to her second, who remained silent as they watched the Wing Zero fly in.

* * *

Kira sat alone in his room, staring at a blank screen. His room was the only place he was certain he wouldn't run into Heero. He didn't want a repeat of their previous encounter, and he was afraid if he did run into Heero that his emotions would take control and he'd attack the older pilot again.

_Why do I feel this way whenever I see him? Is it because we're so different? Ever since I first saw him I've had this feeling of great distrust and wariness. I could try to overlook it if he didn't keep doing things to confirm my feelings…_

He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know what to do anymore…" He muttered in frustration as his thoughts turned to what Heero had said. It had been churning over and over in his mind since he was released from the medical room, and the only time it had vanished was when he was fighting.

_Could Flay really be using me? …It could explain her sudden change in attitude towards me… But they're outsiders! How would they know something like that? They don't know how things were before they came here…_

He rested his head on his arms before a knock came to his door.

"It's me."

Kira blinked in surprise. "Lieutenant La Flaga?"

"Can I come in? The Captain wanted me to talk with you…"

Kira frowned. "All right…"

_What could it be now…?_

He thought worriedly.

* * *

Sai, Tolle, Kuzzey, Miriallia and Flay sat in the cafeteria discussing the strange events that had lead to this point.

"There are rumours going around that those five will be leaving soon. Do you think it's true?" Kuzzey asked.

"I don't know, but Captain Ramius gets really agitated whenever any of them are mentioned…" Sai said with a frown.

Miriallia nodded in agreement.

Tolle sighed in disappointment. "Despite their differences, they were really cool. It'll be sad if they do leave."

Sai looked at Tolle in surprise as he adjusted his sunglasses. "How do you mean they were cool?"

"Well, they kept most of the pressure off Kira when it came to battles, which we should be thankful for considering Kira's not really suited for fighting… and they were pretty friendly… at least Duo, Quatre and Trowa were…" His voice lowered to a mutter as he spoke, but Miriallia nodded in agreement.

"He's right. There was a great deal less pressure on Kira whenever ZAFT attacked because he knew they were helping to defend the ship. He wasn't by himself…"

Flay's eyes narrowed, but she continued to hold her silence.

Kuzzey and Sai nodded in understanding.

"That's true… and Quatre was nice enough to tell me things about where they came from when I asked. I honestly thought he'd brush me off. He seems to have that aristocratic vibe about him." Kuzzey said with a smile.

"Yeah, he does seem to be out of place when it comes to them… He reminds me of Kira before we landed on Earth…" Sai said with an observing tone.

The conversation quickly turned to which pilot reminded each person of somebody on the ship. Jokes and laughter quickly ensued by the topic.

Suddenly, Flay stood as she slammed her hands on the table. "How can you say such things?!"

"Flay…?" Miriallia trailed off uncertainly.

"They're nothing like any of us! I'll be glad when they're gone! I hope they don't ever return either!" She snapped before storming off.

Sai grabbed Miriallia's arm as she tried to pursue Flay. "Leave her alone… Just let her blow off steam." He said calmly.

Miriallia nodded uncertainly before sitting back down.

* * *

Flay stormed down the hall in a fury.

_They're nothing like us! They're just like those filthy Co-ordinators! I hope they all die for what they did to me…!_

Night weighed heavily on the Archangel as it soared above the ocean. Most of the crew had gone to bed or were on the bridge, watching the ocean for enemies.

In the darkness of the room that the pilots shared, a stirring could be heard as the clock struck midnight.

"Are you sure about this…?" Duo's voice was heard as the thumps of feet hitting the floor sounded.

"Yeah… Let's go…" Heero's voice spoke as the door opened and the pilots vanished.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** A little break to gather their thoughts before the next part begins. What will happen next? Keep reading to find out. =P

Also, remember that Flay was mentally destabilized from the death of her father and it never really went away. The A.C. pilots are able to see this destabilized nature more easily than those who have hung around with her all of this time, especially since many of their own have gone through similar destabilization. Their presence and their awareness of her mental state are pushing her further to the extremes whenever they're around, which is why she seems so much more unstable than she was in the original series.

Also just to make it known: the Sandrock did NOT have its sub-machine gun while on guard duty, and as such, it didn't have it when it was taken to the other universe, so the Sandrock is stuck without its only long-ranged weapon until it can return to its home universe.


	12. We're Leaving

Chapter 12: We're Leaving

Duo slipped away from the others as they neared the hangar. The others waited patiently outside the hangar until Duo returned, making an 'all clear' signal. After a quick examination to ensure nobody was around, they slipped in silently as Heero made his way to the control panel and the others headed quickly to their Gundams. As the system that held the Gundams in place was removed and the hangar door opened, Heero quickly made his way to the Wing Zero.

* * *

The sound of the nuclear generators starting up awoke Kira, who had been hiding in the Strike. "Captain… they're leaving…" He said quietly as the Wing Zero and the others made their way to the launch wing.

"_I expected as much… try to stop them at all costs, but be careful. Don't do too much damage to the Strike in the process."_

Kira nodded and switched over to the line he knew they were using as the Wing Zero took off. _"This is the Strike, please stop now. I don't want to have to use force to stop you."_ Kira said warily.

Duo shook his head as the Deathscythe Hell looked back at the Strike as it stepped towards them._ "Don't try and stop us, kid. It's suicide."_ He warned as the Heavyarms and Altron left.

"_The Captain wants you to stay until we reach Alaska, so you can be commended for your services to the ship!"_

Duo's laughter could be heard as the Sandrock took off. _"The only thing that'll happen to us is we'll end up in a loony bin, or prison and our suits will land in the hands of greedy politicians who would use them to create weapons that this universe doesn't need. Forget it kid. We're flying solo now."_ He said as the Deathscythe Hell finally left the catapult region.

Kira muttered under his breath as the Strike followed, being equipped with the Sword Striker pack just in case he had to fight them. The Sword Striker pack was the Strike's close-ranged combat pack and it was rarely used except in extreme situations.

* * *

"_Tsk. Kid, please don't try and stop us. Seriously, it's a death wish!"_ Duo warned again as the Sword Strike stood before them.

"_It's five experienced pilots against one novice pilot, kid. You'll be dead before you even realize what happened."_ Wufei snapped in irritation.

"_I'm sorry. I have to follow my Captain's orders."_ Kira said quietly as he nervously stared down the five Gundams.

"_Even we don't follow unreasonable orders that'll get us killed!"_ Quatre said worriedly.

The Wing Zero suddenly stepped forward. _"Let me handle this…"_ Heero said icily.

The other Gundams warily backed off.

"_Stand down, Kira. The Wing Zero on its own is enough to utterly destroy the Strike. Unlike the others, I won't hold back if you don't stand down."_ He warned.

Kira's eyes narrowed. The resolve that had wavered when the others tried to convince him to stop had suddenly hardened. _"I'm sorry. I can't."_ He said simply as the Sword Strike took out a long object from behind its back.

Curious mutters could be heard from the other pilots before the beam activated.

Quatre paled as he recognised what it was. _"Heero be careful! That's an anti-ship sword!"_

The others looked at the Sandrock in shock. They had never seen one in their universe because a regular beam sabre was enough to take out the sea-based battleships they had to deal with; however, in their research of this universe, they learned that an anti-ship sword was considered to be stronger than a regular beam sabre in close range combat… which could mean trouble for the Wing Zero.

Heero's eyes narrowed. _"I had a feeling that's what it was…"_ He muttered as the Wing Zero brought out its beam sabre to counter the Sword Strike's Schwert Gewehr, as the anti-ship sword was called. _"I'll ask one more time, Kira: stand down."_

"_And I'll say it one more time: I can't."_ Kira replied as the two Gundams shifted into a ready stance.

"_Is it wise of us to let these two battle it out again?"_ Trowa asked worriedly on their private line.

"_We have no choice. Heero's right. We'd go easy on him and with that weapon… it may cost us our lives, or at least do irreparable damage to our Gundams."_ Quatre said with a defeated tone.

Wufei shook his head. _"So it's better if we let the Wing Zero possibly get damaged, but not our Gundams?"_

"_Heero knows the Strike. He examined the files on it very carefully. I'm sure he's devised a strategy to use against all of its different forms."_ Trowa said calmly as the Wing Zero and the Sword Strike stared at each other, neither suit appearing to want to make the first move.

Wufei muttered something under his breath in frustration, but the Altron made no moves to join the fight.

The Wing Zero lunged forward, its beam sabre blocked by the Schwert Gewehr as the force pushed the Strike back a few paces.

"_Is Heero going to knock him into the ocean?"_ Quatre asked worriedly.

"_It looks as though that may be one strategy he's going for. I doubt the Strike is as water-friendly as our suits are. If Heero can knock the Strike into the ocean, it'll give us some much needed time to get away while the Strike tries to reach the surface again."_ Trowa said calmly as the Strike grabbed one of its non-beam daggers, the Armour Schneider, and tried to attack the Wing Zero while it was locked with the anti-ship sword.

Duo's breath caught as the dagger got close to the Wing Zero's side, only to be blocked by the activation of another beam sabre that was connected to the one currently engaged with the Schwert Gewehr, knocking the Armour Schneider out of the Strike's hand and into the ocean.

"_He's got a dual beam sabre? How fair is that?"_ He asked indignantly.

"_I guess that means we should look over our weapon systems closely when we have a spare moment."_ Trowa said mildly surprised as the Wing Zero twisted and forced the Strike to back down as the other beam sabre began to burn into its side.

"_Is Heero holding back?"_ Quatre asked as the Strike charged the Wing Zero again, the two beam weapons connecting to a fury of sparks generated by the energy used by the weapons.

"_I think so… He normally would have had the Strike tossed into the ocean by now… Damn hypocrite. Telling us we'd hold back and damage our suits, yet here he is holding back!"_ Wufei growled.

"_He could be getting the Strike to lower its guard. You know Heero. In battles against weaker suits, but strong pilots, he likes letting the enemy think they have the upper hand before they're blasted into oblivion without even realizing what happened to them."_ Duo said dismissively.

"_Since when?"_ Wufei asked in irritation as the Wing Zero suddenly threw the Strike against one of the back fins of the Archangel.

"_Since he's bored from fighting mass-produced pieces of crap for the past few weeks."_ Duo said in amusement as the Wing Zero charged the Strike.

The Archangel gave a severe tilt as the ship gained too much weight on one side.

"_Guys, get over there!"_ Quatre ordered as the Gundams separated, evening out the weight on the ship and making it level again.

* * *

Murrue braced herself as the Archangel tilted severely before levelling out. "This is going too far! Where's Lieutenant La Flaga?" She snapped to Miriallia in frustration.

"I've found him, he's in the cafeteria!"

"Send him out in the SkyGrasper! We need to stop this before something happens to the Strike!"

"_Are you nuts? The SkyGrasper will be destroyed by those two! Plus, there's still the other four to contend with!"_ Mwu's indignant voice was heard from the console.

"We have no choice, Lieutenant. We need to do something or else this ship will be defenceless. Besides, if something should happen to the one SkyGrasper, we have two of them." She said sternly.

Mwu sighed. _"All right… but if something happens to either the Strike or the SkyGrasper…"_ A click announced the cut off of his communication.

Murrue sighed in frustration. "I wish they wouldn't be so difficult about staying…"

Natarle shook her head. "It may be because they're worried about what will happen when we reach Alaska. Those suits of theirs are nothing like our suits, so maybe they're worried that the Earth government will want to examine them to enhance its own weaponry against ZAFT."

Murrue smiled in amusement. "Isn't me that's usually the calm one?"

"Usually… but whenever you're feeling hot-headed, one of us has to be the calm one." Natarle said as they watched the hangar wing open again to allow the SkyGrasper to leave.

* * *

The duel between the Wing Zero and the Strike had moved to the hangar wing, with both suits trying to throw the other off the ship.

"_Is it me or is Heero being way too nice?"_ Duo asked worriedly.

"_It could be that, despite the disadvantages the Strike has, Kira is stronger than we thought…"_ Trowa frowned at the thought.

"_It's like he suddenly became stronger after that blow to the back wing he took."_ Quatre observed.

"_Still, the Wing Zero shouldn't be having this much difficulty with one machine that even the Wing Gundam could probably take on with little effort!"_ Wufei growled as the hangar wing opened, forcing the Wing Zero and the Strike apart.

However, that didn't last long as the Wing Zero's thrusters burst to life, and with agility rarely seen by the Gundam, it slammed into the Strike.

The Strike was forced over the edge of the ship, using it's thrusters to get back close enough to grab onto the ship's edge as it fell.

"_I think Heero's finally stopped messing around."_ Trowa said simply as the Wing Zero landed above the Strike, raising its beam sabre with the intention of destroying the Strike's fingers and forcing it off the ship.

"_Hey! Knock it off! This has gone on long enough!"_ Mwu's voice rang out from the SkyGrasper as it flew in front of the Wing Zero, forcing it off balance and making it back away from the edge.

The Strike used that instance to activate its thrusters again and get back onto the Archangel. The Strike's time on the ship didn't last long as the Wing Zero ploughed bodily into it, sending both suits into the ocean.

"_Damnit Heero!"_ Duo yelled in annoyance as the SkyGrasper flew in circles around where they had fallen in.

"_Damnit! The Strike can't fight in the water!" _Mwu growled.

"_Well then, you can kiss goodbye your pilot and mobile suit…"_ Wufei commented icily.

"_What do you mean by that?"_ Mwu snapped.

"_He means our Gundams can fight under water with only minimal trouble. They were designed to be efficient in combat under any extreme circumstances, no matter where we're fighting… especially in space, the Poles and underwater."_ Trowa replied with a shake of his head.

"_You should be thankful that it's just Heero against him… even if they're always at each others' throats and have been looking for an excuse to murder each other."_ Duo said with a roll of his eyes as they watched the water's surface for any sign of either of them resurfacing.

* * *

Under the water, Kira cursed repeatedly in frustration as the Strike seemed to have stalled. He kept a wary eye on his radar for any sign of the Wing Zero, but had a feeling that any warning the radar would give him would come too late.

The Wing Zero seemed to have mysteriously vanished as soon as they hit the water, and he wasn't sure whether he had simply fallen deeper than it had, or if their Gundams had a higher manoeuvrability in water than the Strike did.

The black water around him made him fearful as a flash of white appeared on his visual. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was only a school of fish, but that didn't lessen the fear that was slowly gnawing away at his anger with the older pilot. The Schwert Gewehr had gone dead as soon as it touched the water, making it nothing but dead weight.

Kira sighed as he got the Strike's thrusters working, making it head for the surface. The Strike managed to get above the water long enough to throw the Schwert Gewehr onto the deck of the Archangel before the Strike began to sink again.

"What the hell?" Kira asked to the air in shock before he realized that the Wing Zero had grabbed one of the Strike's legs and was purposely dragging it underwater.

"Where did he come from?!" Anger managed to flare up again for a moment before he noticed a green glow in the murky dark of the deeper waters. "It… can't…" His voice was weak as he realized it was the Wing Zero's beam sabre, fully functioning and more than likely just as deadly under the water as it was above water… and he was defenceless without any weapons.

Fear piled on top of more fear as the low battery alert began to go off: it still hadn't fully recharged after the battle against Andrew Waltfeld. Suddenly, he remembered the Panzer Eisen that sat on the Sword Striker's left arm.

As the Wing Zero aimed its beam sabre at the Strike, Kira aimed the rocket anchor that doubled as a shield and fired. Despite the water resistance, the Panzer Eisen did its job: forcing the Wing Zero to let go of the Strike's leg in order to dodge it.

Kira slammed the thruster controls as soon as the Wing Zero let go, rocketing up as fast as the thrusters could go. Kira paled as the Wing Zero was right beneath him and coming up faster than the Strike could go. He was worried he wouldn't make it, when suddenly the Strike was in the air. The lack of resistance sent the Strike into an uncontrolled flight that almost sent it into the side of the Archangel.

Kira quickly got control and landed on the ship, realizing he had beaten the Wing Zero up to the ship.

* * *

"_Man, they nearly gave me a heart attack!"_ Duo growled in annoyance as the Strike appeared seemingly out of nowhere and landed on the Archangel.

Trowa frowned in concern. _"We should end this soon, we don't know when…"_

An alert sounded from the ship just as the Strike retrieved the Schwert Gewehr and aimed it at the Wing Zero as it landed to face off with the Strike again.

"_Thank you ZAFT!"_ Duo said in relief as the outlines of several battleships appeared in the darkness.

"_Fall back."_ Heero said calmly as the Wing Zero transformed and flew away, leaving the nearly drained Strike to jettison the Sword Striker pack.

The other Gundams leapt off the side of the Archangel, their thrusters bursting to life as they skimmed the surface of the ocean and followed the Wing Zero away from the Archangel.

"_Will they be okay?"_ Quatre asked worriedly as the Strike turned grey before another pack launched from the Archangel for it.

"_They'll be fine. They know how to deal with ZAFT, and I didn't really do any major damage to the Strike."_ Heero said sternly as the Archangel faded in the darkness.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Yes, you see your e-mail correctly. Winged Destiny is back. The problem with my computer is that the clock battery is dead, so my computer can still function without it. I'll be dropping back to every other week though because of how annoying it is to keep correcting the time and date. Sorry for the double e-mail, but its been so long that I forgot to add this section to the chapter, so I removed the chapter. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Author's Reply: **_**Secret Weapon Unit 06**_: It seems as though we got off on the wrong foot, so to speak. Text makes it hard to understand a person's intentions with their words. I apologize for my reaction to your critism. I happen to enjoy constructive critism because it's helped me become a better writer (at least, people say I am. I doubt it.). The details you have problems with tend to be only noticed by extremely detail-oriented readers who know every single detail of a Gundam, down to the last placement of a bolt (slight exaggeration). If you have a messaging service or can unlock your inbox, we can talk easier and hopefully understand each other better than simply through reviews and replies, which makes things a lot harder.


	13. Parting of Ways

Chapter 13: Parting of Ways

The Gundams landed heavily on an island some distance away from the battle that had commenced. Flashes could occasionally be seen, but no other sign of the fight was visible from that distance.

The pilots left their suits and stood around, watching it for a few moments.

"We should rest here for a while… We'll decide what to do in the morning…" Heero said as Duo tried and failed to hide a yawn.

"He's right. We'll be able to think better that way." Quatre said as Trowa climbed back into the Heavyarms and began throwing out blankets to the others, who caught them with ease.

"You stole these from our room, didn't you?" Duo asked as he recognized the blanket he was holding.

"Yes. I knew we'd end up camping out because there aren't any civilized areas around here, so I took them and hid them in the Heavyarms once they were cleaned."

"Man, we've been spoiled all these years. Do you really think we can camp out?" Duo asked as he worked his shoulders.

"We can sure as hell try. Come on." Wufei growled as he went over to the Altron and curled up between its legs, using the massive mobile suit as a make-shift shelter.

The others nodded in agreement and followed his lead, using their mobile suits as make-shift shelters just in case the weather changed while they were fast asleep.

* * *

"Well that wasn't too bad…" Duo said as they stretched the next morning. Looking out, there was no sign of the Archangel or the ZAFT pursuers.

"So what should we do?" Wufei asked as the others began packing up.

"We need to find an anomaly like the one that brought us here to take us home. It'll be hard, but we should try." Quatre said thoughtfully.

"We'll split up. It'll be much easier that way. Some of us should search here on Earth and the rest should search in space." Duo said.

"For once, Duo has a smart idea." Heero said sarcastically.

Duo shot a dark look at him. "If we all agree, how about the Heavyarms and Sandrock stay on Earth and the Altron, Wing Zero and Deathscythe Hell head to space? We all know that space will be harder territory to cover than the Earth is…"

"I've got no complaints." Trowa said with a shrug.

Quatre and Wufei nodded in agreement.

"All right… but how do we get to space? It's obviously not as easy as it is back in our universe…" Wufei asked in concern.

"I took care of that." Duo said as he produced a disc from his pocket. "I copied all the information we'll need onto this. I'll send you the information once we're ready to go."

"All right then, let's move out." Heero said as he climbed into the Wing Zero's cockpit.

"Hey! At least wait until the rest of us are ready!" Duo yelled at him as the others scrambled to their Gundams.

The roar of the activation sent a few sea birds flying as the three space-bound Gundams took off, following the Deathscythe Hell towards the nearest space port.

"_See you, Quatre…"_ Trowa said as the Heavyarms made a wave to the Sandrock, which responded with a wave of its own.

"_Take care, Trowa."_

The Heavyarms' thrusters roared to life as it headed away from the island.

Once the Heavyarms was out of sight, Quatre sighed.

_He's heading towards Eurasia, so I guess he realized I was going to seek out the Archangel again…_

He shook his head as the Sandrock's thrusters activated and it headed out to where the Archangel was last seen.

* * *

The Sandrock landed on a small, battle-scarred spot of land as it stood where the Archangel's last position had been.

"Where the heck could they have gone?" Quatre muttered with a frown as he noticed a lone signal leaving his radar range, and several others heading the other way.

"They're already that far? I've got a lot of ground to cover… please hang in there, Sandrock." He said as the thrusters activated again and the Sandrock skimmed the surface of the water, following the signal with as much speed as it could muster.

The Archangel had limped away from the battlefield, knowing it had to put a lot of distance between itself and the ZAFT forces that had tailed them, which now included all four of the stolen Gundams in their ranks.

"Ma'am! There's a signature coming from behind us at an incredible speed!" Sai said worriedly.

"Who is it?" Murrue asked. She was exhausted from lack of sleep, and an enemy flying solo was the last thing she wanted right now.

"It's… the Sandrock!" Sai couldn't keep the surprise from his voice.

The crew couldn't help but stare at him in surprise.

"Are you certain?" Murrue asked tentatively.

Sai nodded as the hiss of an incoming transmission sounded.

"_Archangel, this is the Sandrock. Please allow me to board. I'll explain why I've returned when I'm on board, if it's all right with you."_

Natarle looked at Murrue warily, but Murrue knew she had no choice.

"Open the hangar door!" She ordered.

As the hangar wing began to open, Quatre smiled.

"_Thank you very much, Captain."_ He said as the Sandrock landed heavily on the catapult platform.

* * *

Murrue folded her arms beneath her breasts impatiently as Quatre climbed down from the Sandrock carefully.

"What brings you back here? And where are the others?"

"We split up. Heero, Duo and Wufei are heading for space to search for an anomaly like the one that brought us here, and Trowa was headed for Eurasia. I decided it would be best if I stuck around with you and head for North America to see if I can find anything there. However, I do have one condition." Quatre said as his tone suddenly became business-like.

Murrue frowned at his sudden change in attitude. "What is it?"

Quatre glanced at Natarle, Mwu and Kira, who had all assembled upon hearing he had returned. "I will not meet with, nor will my Gundam be seen by, your superiors. I will leave and search for an anomaly once we near North American shores. Is that all right with you?"

Murrue was taken aback by his stern tone before nodding, ignoring Natarle's protests. "However, should there be trouble, don't hesitate to ask for my help. I won't turn away any requests for aid from those that have helped us in our time of need."

"How? Communications on Earth are poor. It's hard to communicate over long distances." Murrue asked with a frown.

Quatre shook his head. "It isn't for us. We use a different system than you. I could probably get Heero or Trowa now if I wanted to." He said casually.

The others stared at him in shock and disbelief, but decided against asking him to prove it.

"Well, I guess 'welcome back' is in order…" Mwu said as he shook Quatre's hand.

"Thanks. I hope I can be a valuable ally for as long as I can."

The others nodded as they left the hangar, asking him questions about the anomaly that had originally brought the pilots to their universe.

* * *

With their Gundams hidden close by, Heero, Duo and Wufei slipped into the Mass Driver compound. Most of the soldiers were positioned with their attention towards the other ocean, waiting for an attack from ZAFT, leaving the Mass Driver nearly defenceless against stealth attacks from the other side. Using Heero's jacket to cover the wire lining the fence, the pilots slipped into the compound with ease.

"Damn this is unnerving… what the hell are these idiots thinking?" Duo growled as Heero retrieved his jacket from the fence before hiding behind some crates that had been abandoned.

"If we were to come in here with our Gundams, you can be certain we'd end up attracting attention." Wufei said quietly.

"Let's move… We'll need to find a mobile suit transport, if they have them, and find out anything else we'll need to get that thing working." Heero's eyes narrowed as he saw two soldiers walk past.

"I see… that old trick again?" Duo asked with a grin as Heero slipped away.

Wufei simply shook his head as the two soldiers were quickly downed and dragged back behind the crates.

Half an hour of interrogation ended with the soldiers being stripped of their uniforms and knocked unconscious.

Duo sighed as he adjusted the collar of the uniform he was wearing. "Why do they always make these damn uniforms so stuffy?" He grumbled.

"It's so that people who are uncomfortable in a uniform, like you, are easier to spot." Heero said coolly as he finished buttoning the wrist of his uniform.

"Stay here and keep an eye on these two. We'll come back here with a transport, and be ready to get the Altron when we do."

Wufei nodded dismissively as he listened to Heero's orders. "You don't have to tell me all of that. I know what I'm doing. Remember: we've done this countless times before."

Duo chuckled in amusement. "Yeah, yeah… let's go before somebody gets suspicious." He said as he checked to make sure his braid was hidden. "Thank God we were on an Earth Forces vessel for so long…"

Heero nodded in agreement as they walked out from behind the crates, leaving Wufei to watch the unconscious forms of the soldiers.

* * *

Duo sighed in frustration as they stood before one of the operators of the Mass Driver.

The operator had refused to give them the activation code for the Mass Driver repeatedly, and it was starting to grate on them. Surprisingly, the operator believed they were Earth Forces soldiers; however he said that it was outside his authorization to grant the codes to soldiers.

Heero pulled his blank-loaded gun from the holster of his uniform and pointed it at the operator. "Tell us now."

The operator paled as he stared down the barrel of the gun.

Duo cursed in annoyance. "Damn it's a good thing I came!" He said, grabbing the top of Heero's gun and lowering it so that it pointed at the ground. "Sorry about him, his temper's on a bit of a short fuse these days." He said, shooting a warning glare at Heero, who looked away.

"You see, we're Special Ops. We've been ordered to head to the Lunar Base for debriefing before we head into the Plants on a scouting mission. Unfortunately, this is the closest Mass Driver still in our territory. See those out there?" He asked, pointing past the Mass Driver to the ocean where several vessels were hovering just outside firing range of the on-shore weaponry.

"They'll be coming in here any minute now to wipe out or take over this Mass Driver… which would be bad for us. We've had a string of bad luck recently and it's been pissing us off. We need to get into space before those bastards start attacking. We need those damn codes!" He growled.

The operator watched the vessels for a few moments before looking at the two infuriated 'Special Ops agents' and nodded. "I really shouldn't be telling you this though."

"Great!" Duo said, clapping the operator on the back. "Go get the transport and our suits." He said, looking at Heero.

Heero nodded and walked away.

"You're doing the Earth Forces a great service, pal…" Duo grinned while taking mental notes as the operator gave him the codes to the Mass Driver.

* * *

Duo laughed as he watched the Earth Forces base quickly fall away, the explosions of battle just beginning. "We still haven't lost our touch! And it ain't even our universe!" He said gleefully as they sat in the cockpit of the transport.

Heero had changed out of his Earth Forces uniform and back into his normal clothes. "Once we're into space, we'll split up."

Duo nodded. "I'll head to the Earth Forces after this transport. I might as well make use of this uniform. I'll make it seem like ZAFT spies stole the transport and I was in pursuit of it. Speaking of which… what'd you do with those guys, Wufei?"

"They're well hidden, but still alive. It will take them a few days to be discovered, even if they do manage to figure out how to move." Wufei said coolly.

"I'll head with the Wing Zero towards the Plants." Heero said as the transport made its way through the atmosphere.

"Then that leaves the Neutral colonies. I guess I'll take them."

Duo and Heero glanced at Wufei in surprise, but nodded as the shuddering finally ceased.

"All right, let's go." Heero said as he set the co-ordinates for the Lunar Base.

"Once we leave the transport, I'll send you guys the map of space that I retrieved from the Archangel's database." Duo said, flashing the disc again.

"And here I thought I was the only one who hacked into their systems…" Heero said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yeah, but you didn't save anything, so I decided to dig around…" Duo said with a casual shrug and a grin as they made their way to their Gundams.

* * *

While the Wing Zero and Altron flew off towards the Plants, Duo sat and waited for the transport to get a reasonable distance away before following it.

Once they were within visual range of the Lunar Base, the Deathscythe Hell destroyed the transport.

A few warning shots froze the Deathscythe Hell in its tracks.

"_Identify yourself."_ A cold voice demanded.

Duo switched to the precise frequency the Lunar Base was using to prevent anyone else from hearing the exchange accidentally.

After quickly double-checking the rank designated by the uniform he was wearing, he responded. "I am Ensign Duo Maxwell formerly of the Archangel crew. I was on my way to defend the Mass Driver when this transport took off with ZAFT spies aboard it. I followed it and destroyed the spies as they tried to flee, but it was a bit harder to catch up to the transport. I'm now requesting entry into the Lunar Base to remain with the space forces." Duo held his breath as he waited for their decision.

"_Access granted, Ensign Maxwell. There isn't as much action up here as there is on Earth, but hopefully that'll change."_

"Good, I can use a break to check on my mobile suit. It's been through hell down on Earth."

"_Understood."_ The gates to the Lunar Base opened, and the Deathscythe Hell entered slowly, disabling its weapon systems to ensure their trust.

Duo had to fight hard to keep a grin from forming.

_These guys are idiots!_

He thought as the Deathscythe Hell shut down and soldiers came to escort him.

* * *

Heero and Wufei ran into similar situations with their respective targets; however Wufei had an easier time entering the Neutral colonies with the sole request that his mobile suit's weapon systems be disabled and locked for the duration of his stay.

Heero had to convince the ZAFT forces that he had come from the Earth with information for ZAFT on the elusive Archangel. After disabling the Wing Zero's weapons systems and docking in one of the hangars, he was taken into custody until he could prove he was telling them the truth…

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Happy Easter! Here's what the Easter Bunny left you! This is the last chapter to take place in the C.E. Universe. The next three take place back in the A.C. Universe, and will set the stage for the sequel "No Escape from War". I apologise in advanced for this, but once they're done, it will be back to normal... well... as normal as this story has been. Enjoy!


	14. Hiding our Tears

Chapter 14: Hiding Our Tears

_While the Gundam Pilots establish themselves in their new factions, the story swings back to the A.C. universe to check on the rocky situation forming in that universe…_

Mariemaia Khushrenada stood before Relena wearing a school uniform with General Une at her side.

Relena had returned to Earth just the day before, but her troubles had yet to end.

"Relena, you need help, so why not allow me to help you? I can still go to school, but I'll be able to help you on the side!" Mariemaia pleaded.

Relena shook her head firmly. "I'm sorry Mariemaia… but there's too much to be done right now for somebody who is unfamiliar with what has been happening to join me…" She sighed as she stared into Mariemaia's hurt face. "I promise… the next time I get into a bind, you'll be the first person I come to. Is that all right?"

Mariemaia smiled. "That's a promise. And you had better not try and break it."

Relena smiled in amusement. "I won't…"

Mariemaia came around her desk and hugged Relena. "Please try to do more to take better care of yourself. If they were to return, you wouldn't want them to see you looking so poor, would you?"

Relena nodded as she returned the young girl's hug. "I'll try."

General Une nodded to Relena before following Mariemaia out of Relena's office.

Mariemaia looked back at the door after it was shut. "She really is as stubborn as those pilots…"

Une looked down at her. "I know she is… all we can do is support her and try and keep her health from failing… That's the last thing the Earth Sphere needs." Une said grimly as Mariemaia nodded in agreement.

"I'll head home now. Please take care." She said, waving to Une before walking away.

Sally appeared by Une's side. "How is everyone else taking it?" She asked.

Une shook her head. "Noin is in charge of keeping an eye on those associated with the pilots…"

"They aren't doing well." Noin's voice was heard as she quickly joined her associates. "They put on a brave front when I'm around checking up on them, but I doubt that's how they really are feeling."

Une and Sally nodded in understanding. "We have some very difficult decisions ahead of us… we need to get moving. Where's Milliardo?" Une asked.

Noin shook her head. "I don't know." She lied. She knew where he was… rebuilding the recovered remains of the Tallgeese III, even if it wouldn't be operational. However, she knew he'd get into trouble for being there, so she decided to keep her silence as they walked away.

* * *

Hilde Schbeiker sighed in exhaustion as she turned away another truck carrying scrap metal before finally getting the gate shut and locked. The scrap yard she co-ran with Duo was filled to capacity and without his help she was forced to do both her designated duties and those duties that were supposed to be his.

She went into the office and dropped heavily into a chair in front of a desk. She stared at a newspaper for a few moments before reaching for the phone and dialling it. "Hey, this is Hilde Schbeiker of scrap lot #309. Can I speak to Howard please?" She frowned as she listened.

"What do you mean you don't know of any scrap lot by that number? It's-" Her frown deepened in irritation. "Of course I run that lot! I'm Duo Maxwell's girl- err… I'm Duo Maxwell's business partner!" She blushed slightly at her words.

They had agreed to keep their private and business lives separate as best as they could, and it wouldn't do her any good to forget about that agreement now.

"Finally! Thank you Howard." She said with an exasperated sigh as she finally reached the former Gundam scientist and leader of the Sweeper Group. "I'm fine… I was just wondering if you'll be making a run by my lot any time soon. Yeah, it's filled." She nodded. "All right… thanks. I'll look forward to it." Her expression saddened. "No… Lucrezia keeps checking up on me… but they haven't found anything…" She shook her head. "I'm fine… yeah… I'm already used to him not being here… Thanks for your concern, though. See you later." She hung up the phone and stared at it for a few moments.

A few tears made their way down her cheeks, forcing her to quickly wipe them away. "Damnit Duo… wherever the hell you are… please come back…" She said shakily before she went to find something to take her mind off the missing pilots.

* * *

Rashid cursed out loud as he oversaw one of the many ongoing projects the Winner Corporation was in charge of.

"These damn idiots wouldn't know a direction if it slapped them in the face!" He growled in frustration. "No! That has to go the other way!" He roared at a crane operator, who was moving an I-Beam the wrong way. He growled in irritation. "How the hell could Master Quatre deal with these incompetent jerks all the time and not lose his temper?"

Abdul sighed as he approached with a few cups of coffee, handing one to Rashid. "It's because Master Quatre was a lot calmer than you are, sir. Plus, he has more patience and understanding than you do."

"Yeah, yeah." Rashid said with a shake of his head. "Any news on how that's going?"

Abdul shook his head as Ahmed and Auda joined them.

"We've heard rumours that they'll be declared dead within a matter of days though…" Auda said sadly.

"Miss Relena can't do that! She should know they'll be back…" Rashid said, his tone becoming more defeated as he spoke.

Ahmed nodded in understanding. "She probably still holds out hope like the rest of us do… but she's under a lot of pressure. The rest of the government doesn't believe they'll be back, and they're worried about more and more terrorist groups popping up with the absence of the Gundams. She would have no choice but to bow to their wishes if the pressure gets too bad."

Rashid ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Well… there's nothing we can do about it… Come on, let's get back to work. Master Quatre would have wanted us to…"

The other Maganacs nodded and went back to their duties as Rashid resumed ordering the crew around, pausing to look up at the artificial sky of the colony.

_Master Quatre… wherever you are… return quickly… if you're declared dead… we'll all be lost…_

* * *

Catherine Bloom entered the trailer of the circus manager with a yawn of exhaustion. He looked up from the money he was tallying up from the performance they had just wrapped up. "How was the new kid?" He asked worriedly.

She shook her head. "He wasn't that good. The poor kid looked more scared than any other partner I've ever had."

The manager sighed. "I knew it. He claimed to have had previous experience, but that was an obvious lie. Well Catherine, what should we do? You've been in this business since you were a child…"

"I can practice more with him; hopefully he'll begin to trust me more." She said, although her tone suggested doubt in her words.

"Tsk. Why did that idiot have to rejoin those suicidal maniacs? If he had stayed away from them, he wouldn't have gone missing…" The manager's words fell into a frustrated grumble of curses and insults for the Gundam pilots and Trowa.

Catherine slapped her hands on his desk once she had heard enough. She leaned over the desk to stare the manager directly in the eyes as fury flashed in her own. "That isn't fair, manager. You shouldn't judge his decisions without knowing his reasons. Besides, you know as well as I do that if it weren't for him, there would be countless occasions where this circus wouldn't exist anymore!"

He sighed and nodded. "I know… but you have to admit, he had a good life here… why did he choose to become a pilot again?"

Catherine shook her head. She couldn't argue with that point. "I don't know… he never told me his reasons, even when I asked him. All we can do is hope for the best, but prepare for the worst…"

The manager nodded as she stood up straight and began to turn for the door before suddenly remembering something. "Oh! I made some soup, do you want any?" Catherine asked politely.

The manager shook his head, keeping his face schooled. "No thanks, Catherine, I ate earlier."

"That's all right, maybe next time." She said, turning and leaving.

As soon as the door clicked shut, the manager sighed in relief and returned to his counting.

* * *

Relena sighed as Milliardo sat before her. "How are those projects coming along?" She asked.

"The Mars Terraforming Project has been put on hold, as you know…" He said as he glanced at a list of notes Une had given him before their meeting.

"Of course, I was the one who put it on hold." She said with a slight hint of sadness in her tone. She really didn't want to have to take that step, but the other issues they were faced with were far more important.

"The Nuclear Jamming Devices are coming along nicely. By the end of this year the entire Earth Sphere should be a nuclear-free zone. Only the L2 Cluster, some parts of Eurasia, and the United States are still under construction and considered danger zones." He reeled off from the same list, almost boredly.

She smiled in relief, knowing one of the more important projects would be done by the end of the year. "That's good to hear."

Milliardo frowned as a troubling thought occurred to him. "Relena… if these NJDs have been set up and activated… how is it that the Gundams haven't ceased to function?"

Relena's relieved smile turned into a sly one. "I knew when we decided to rebuild the Gundams that this problem would come up, considering that the NJD project was already well into the works…"

Milliardo nodded as he listened intently.

The NJD project had begun two years after the Eve Wars concluded, long before rebuilding the Gundams had even been considered.

"So the engineers who were working on the NJDs developed cancellers. They're all short-ranged cancellers, so they only void the NJDs' effects on the Gundams. They were also installed in the power plants to keep power flowing safely, and on the colonies to avoid accidentally implementing Operation Meteor when we activated the NJDs equipped on them."

Milliardo's expression darkened at the mention of the operation that had sparked the official beginning of the Eve Wars. "I see… So now all we have to do is hope that nobody with ill intent learns of the cancellers…" He trailed off, not really wanting to think about what would happen if that occurred.

Relena nodded.

"What about…?" He allowed his question to go unfinished, knowing that she knew he what he was asking about.

She sighed as she looked away from her older brother. "I've been keeping myself busy, so I didn't have to think about them… I just wish we knew something…" She said as her head fell into her hands in frustration.

"I understand… is that all for today?" He asked softly.

Relena nodded. "Then I'll continue with my other duties." He said as he stood.

"Please be careful… I don't want to lose you too."

Milliardo bowed to her. "I promise I will do everything in my power to stay by your side, Relena." He said before leaving.

Relena shook her head. "If only I had made them make the same promise…" She muttered as she checked to see what her next appointment was.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I apparently have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, so my wrists aren't in as good a condition as they should be. It'll be slow going, but I refuse to allow Winged Destiny to be put on hold. It's still on the bi-weekly schedule, but don't always expect it to be updated Mondays. Two more chapters follow in the After Colony universe, and then the action swings back to the Cosmic Era. Sorry for the slow chapters, but it's setting things up for "No Escape from War", so it has to be done.

By the way, I'm still having trouble with the third story's title. So I'm asking the fans. What should the third story's title be? It returns the story back to the Cosmic Era during the events of Gundam Seed Destiny, but that's all I can tell you. It's the final story and a lot happens. So please readers, help me? Suggestions will be gathered up and put up for voting in the last chapter of the After Colony universe intermission.


	15. The Gathering

Chapter 15: The Gathering

Several days later, an announcement was made that sent ripples of shock throughout the Earth Sphere: the Gundam pilots had been declared dead.

Relena had finally bowed to the pressure of the rest of the ESUN government.

Fear and concern began to spread before another announcement was made: preparations for replacements were already underway. Fear was replaced with relief, but concern still held strong. Could the new pilots and Gundams live up to the standards set by the original pilots? Then the details began to emerge. Six nations and the three major colony clusters had been selected to choose a candidate they felt suitable to be pilots. Nine new pilots with nine new Gundams would be tasked with protecting the peace within the Earth Sphere.

Snide remarks slowly began to replace the concern once it was learned that it would require nine people to do the same job that only five could handle before. However, nobody could to do anything about it, so the hunt for the nine candidates began… The question was: could they handle the pressure of trying to live up to the legends the other pilots had made?

* * *

A plane bearing the ESUN symbol flew into European airspace, heading for the British Isles.

Relena and the Defence Council had taken it upon themselves to gather up the candidates that the selected nations had chosen.

"Should we really trust such an important task to the bumbling politicians that represent each nation?" Milliardo asked in concern.

"We have little choice. Don't worry, the best fighters that were involved in the Eve Wars are really in charge of the selection process, the politicians are simply taking the credit for the pilot's selections." Une said reassuringly as she looked over her notes.

"Do we know who is still selecting candidates?" Relena asked as she fought off a yawn. She had been working almost non-stop since the announcement that the original pilots were considered to be dead had gone out.

"Currently we still have yet to hear from Africa, Australia, and the colonies." Une replied. She was in charge of everything to do with the candidates until they were all gathered.

Noin sighed as she looked at Relena. "Get some rest while we're travelling. You're going to burn yourself out."

Relena shook her head. "I'm fine. So long as my judgement doesn't get hampered, I'll keep going."

"Do we have to physically force you to sleep?" Sally asked in exasperation.

"I'm fine!" Relena insisted.

"You're a public figure, Relena. If you look exhausted and drained, people will notice. And it won't go well for you if people who are looking for a chance to bring you down realize you're exhausted. They'll take advantage of it. We're already in a compromised position without the threat of the Gundams to keep your enemies at bay…" Milliardo growled in warning.

"_We're beginning our descent now."_ The pilot warned.

"Once we take off, you had better get some rest. We mean it." Noin ordered sternly.

Relena waved off the order as the plane's descent began to become steeper, before making contact with the runway.

"Stubborn girl…" Noin muttered.

As they disembarked, they were met by the ambassador who was eagerly waiting to take them to the embassy to meet the European candidate.

* * *

As soon as the pilot candidate had been handed over to their custody, the Defence Council and Relena were back on the plane and heading for the United States.

The pilot candidate was in a separate section of the plane to avoid him overhearing important information that wasn't relevant to him. Despite their outward attitude, the Defence Council was worried that one of the ambassadors could be a spy or a leader for any of the terrorist organizations that had been springing up, so all the candidates were under suspicion until they could prove otherwise.

"We'll head back to the Sanc Kingdom and begin preparations for the creation of the new Gundams while we wait for the other nations to decide." Milliardo said as he examined Une's notes before passing them back to her.

"Relena… we'll be in the air for quite some time, so get some rest!" Noin said with a fair amount of irritation in her tone.

Relena sighed, knowing it was no good to argue with the entire Defence Council as they stared at her. "All right! You win. But wake me up when we land in the US."

The others nodded in agreement as she closed her eyes. However, her thoughts kept her from sleeping as she listened to the Defence Council's conversation.

"What are we going to do with these pilots should Heero and the others reappear?" Une asked in concern.

"I don't have a clue… although the odds of their return at this point are very, very slim…" Milliardo said sadly.

"I had a feeling you hadn't given up hope, despite being the one who made the decision to have them declared dead." Noin said wryly.

"Of course I haven't given up… Heero and the others are unpredictable. They always have been… although my hope is fading fast…" Milliardo said with a shake of his head.

Sally nodded. "The only one of us whose hope is still strong is Relena…"

"I find her unwavering loyalty to them a bit disturbing. It could hamper her judgement in a crisis." Milliardo said in concern.

"That's why we're here: to steer her the right way if she should become confused or on the verge of making a wrong decision." Noin said reassuringly.

"I'm going to go check on the pilot candidate." Une said before leaving.

Talk turned to other matters the Defence Council had to deal with and Relena finally drifted off into a restless sleep.

* * *

When she awoke, she felt the plane taking off. She looked around, trying to find the Defence Council to question them, but they were nowhere to be seen. She looked out the window and was surprised: it wasn't the United States that was dropping quickly out of sight.

"I see you're awake. We were getting worried about you." Noin said as she stood beside Relena.

"Lucrezia! Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Are we off duty, then?" Noin asked in amusement.

"What do you mean?" Relena asked in confusion.

"You typically only call me by my first name when we're off duty, even though I've asked you repeatedly to just call me 'Noin' even when we're off duty."

Relena moaned in exhaustion. "No, we're not off duty… how long have I been asleep?"

"You've been asleep for quite some time now. We just took off from South America."

Relena jumped up in shock. "What?! I told you to wake me once we reached the United States!"

Noin shrugged. "Take it up with your brother. He's the one who said we shouldn't wake you." Noin said with a sly smile. She knew Relena wouldn't say anything to Milliardo, no matter how angry she was with him, at least when it came to personal matters.

Relena sighed in defeat as she slumped back into her seat. "Where is everyone?"

"They're currently talking with the candidates." She raised her hand as Relena went to stand. "You'll be able to meet them once we've gotten them all gathered, at least the ones that have been decided."

Relena shook her head in annoyance.

"It's basically some simple introductions and making sure they know who's in charge. They certainly are an overconfident bunch, one of them even tried to push Milliardo around."

Relena winced at the thought of what Milliardo probably did to that candidate.

"The ambassadors must've filled their heads with a bunch of promises we may not be able to keep." Noin explained with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"That sounds like them." Relena sighed

"The ambassadors may need to be replaced soon, they're getting a bit too full of themselves and it could cause the ESUN problems in the future."

Relena nodded in understanding. "I'll see what I can do once we're finished with this matter first."

Noin nodded as the rest of the Defence Council returned.

"I'm glad to see you're awake. You slept quite soundly." Milliardo said while trying to hide the fact that he was rubbing a slightly red hand.

Relena sighed in exasperation. "What'd you do, Milliardo?"

"I did nothing. That way you'll have plausible deniability if the brat complains to his ambassador." He said coolly, forcing Relena to roll her eyes as the plane made its way back to the Sanc Kingdom.

* * *

A week later saw the very same plane taking off again. "So Africa and Australia have finally picked?" Sally asked in surprise.

Une nodded. "They decided just yesterday. The other candidates are on board so they can all get to know each other. Knowing each other will make it easier for them to work together. I hope." She said in concern.

They had kept the other pilots separate from each other after the first plane ride because some differences in opinion had appeared and the resulting arguments had forced them all to be isolated in order to avoid physical injury to them.

"Indeed. All I know is that once we have these two, we'll be heading to the space port in Australia and then it's off to the colonies. The selected candidates from the colonies will come to us on L2 Y1958. We can't waste any more time going to collect them individually." Une said as she looked over her notebook again.

"Will the scientists meet us there?" Noin asked in curiosity.

"They're already waiting for us on the colony." Une replied.

"Impatient, aren't they?" Noin said with a shake of her head.

"It seems that way. I have a feeling they're going to chew us out for our 'mistake'." Sally said with an exasperated sigh.

"Ugh. Don't remind me… does anyone have earplugs? I really don't feel like listening to that." Relena moaned.

The others chuckled in amusement.

"We just have to hope they'll be too busy beginning the planning stages for the new Gundams to chew us out." Milliardo said as he stared out the window.

The others nodded in agreement as the plane left Sanc Kingdom's airspace.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I know these chapters are short, but I just wanted to get through this as fast as possible. I may consider shifting back to once a week since my wrists seem to be able to handle the stresses of running of dungeons in World of Warcraft, so it should be able to handle uploading it.


	16. The Replacements

Chapter 16: The Replacements

Six teenaged males stared out the windows of the shuttle as the Earth began to shrink. "This is the first time I've been off of the Earth…" The Australian candidate said more to himself than to the others.

"Yeah, but those others went back and forth so often. I wonder how many trips it takes before the novelty wears off…" The American candidate said. Whether it was some accidental design, or a purposeful mirroring, the American pilot closely resembled Andrew Waltfeld in the C.E. universe.

"You know… they were never as great as they seemed to be." The European candidate said with a sneer.

"You sound pretty confident in that opinion." The African candidate growled.

"Of course he is. Caden claims to know what really happened to them." The Asian candidate said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh really? This I have to hear." The South American candidate said mockingly to Caden.

Caden ignored his mocking tone as the American candidate motioned for him to go ahead.

"I enjoy hearing other people's theories. It makes the truth seem more interesting."

"Obviously Andrew's a geek for these conspiracy theories." The Asian candidate said.

Andrew chose to ignore the Asian's comments as Caden frowned at them.

"They were about our age during the events of the Eve Wars, right?"

The others nodded.

"Let's face it: it's an undeniable fact that as you get older, your reflexes begin to slow and it becomes harder to fight. Their Gundams were technological monsters that required a pilot in top physical condition. They've been out of battle for four years. The simple fact of the matter is they got too old and too rusty. They were forcibly retired, but since they knew too much… they were more than likely taken care of and the whole 'disappeared mysteriously' leak is a cover up so the ESUN didn't have to explain to those they were close to why they weren't coming back."

Andrew smirked thoughtfully as he listened to Caden's theory, then hid a laugh behind a cough once he had finished.

"Your theory could hold weight… if it weren't for the overwhelming evidence against it." The Asian candidate snapped.

"Yamato, shut up."

"Make me, Kareem."

"All of you, shut up!" The stern voice of Milliardo snapped from the doorway separating the candidates from the rest of the shuttle.

The pilots jumped; none of them had heard him enter.

"Yes sir!" A quiver of fear entered their voices as they acknowledged the Commander's order. They had figured he would be forced to restrain himself against them because of their status, but he quickly proved them wrong, so in turn, they quickly learned to fear him.

"This had better stop soon. You'll be working together, so I expect you all to get along. Is that clear?"

The candidates nodded before the door was shut and relieved sighs were heard.

"Well, at least we have one thing in common: we're all terrified of Milliardo Peacecraft." Andrew said with a slight hint of sarcasm. The others remained silent as the shuttle made its way towards the L2 cluster.

* * *

The shuttle was docked and the candidates had been escorted to their quarters where they would be staying until they returned to the Earth.

Relena and the others were finally able to relax, to a certain extent, now that they no longer had to worry about the candidates.

"So which of us is lucky enough to have to deal with the scientists?" Sally asked worriedly as they sat in a conference room.

"Unfortunately, I have to deal with them personally." Relena said sadly.

The others tried to hide the relief from their faces, but from the frown appearing on Relena's face, it was apparent that they had failed.

"Anyways, is there any word from the colonies about their representatives?" Noin asked.

Une could only shake her head. "They guarantee me that they will have decided by the end of tomorrow though."

"By the end of tomorrow? Hmph. How many times have we heard a guarantee like that?" Milliardo said in disdain.

"Those guys must be really getting to you…" Noin noted worriedly.

"They are. They can't seem to stop arguing with each other, and they think because they were selected that they can do whatever they want." Milliardo growled in irritation.

"Don't worry, once they're all gathered and they've begun their training, they won't have time to argue and they'll quickly lose their cocky attitudes." Une said calmly.

"It'll be that rough?" Relena asked with a hint of worry in her tone.

Une nodded as she passed a booklet to Relena, who looked at it curiously. "Currently, their level of piloting practically none… we're planning on trying to get them within the range of skill that Heero and the others possessed, so yes, they will be going through very rough training." Une said almost boredly as Relena read over the planned training regime.

"I just hope once their training is complete that they don't rebel on us…" Milliardo said gravely.

The others nodded in agreement as they moved onto other matters, trying to ignore the weight of the fear that had begun to grow because of Milliardo's words.

* * *

Finally, all of the candidates had been assembled and Relena was now faced with the daunting task of dealing with the Gundam scientists.

The scientists were to be given psychological profiles of each candidate and would be instructed to design the new Gundams based on the results of each candidate's profile.

She hesitated outside of the hangar they were using to plan and design the new suits in. She knew they were still far from pleased about what had happened to the original five they had created, and she knew avoiding them had only allowed their animosity with the Council and her to grow. She steeled herself for the barrage of complaints as she walked into the hangar.

The scientists were pouring over a large sheet of blueprint paper, muttering amongst themselves when she came in. They looked up at her with varying expressions of irritation before going back to muttering to each other.

_I guess business is more important than grudges…_

She sighed in relief before walking over to them. "Here are the psychological profiles. Once you've finished the plans for each Gundam, the mechanics are on standby ready to begin construction. We'll need those suits up and running as soon as possible."

"Can we place our trust in these pilots?" A woman asked as she looked up from the empty blueprint sheet.

"Honestly? I don't know. I put more faith in the odds that Heero and the others will return than I do in these new candidates' skills."

The scientists scowled at her as she hit their sore spot.

"I guess we have no choice. They were selected by the ambassadors." A man said stiffly as he took the folders from her.

"We'll get on these right away."

She nodded. "Thank you." She quickly left before they could say anything about the original pilots.

* * *

Noin was waiting for her outside. "It's time to meet the candidates."

Relena rolled her eyes. "So today is going to be one of those days, huh?" She asked as she followed Noin, who chucked in amusement.

"Yes it is. How was it?" She questioned curiously.

"Surprisingly fine… I think they're too mad to care anymore."

Noin nodded in understanding as she paused outside a conference room. "You and Milliardo are on your own. Good luck in there." She said as she put a comforting hand on Relena's shoulder before leaving to attend to her other duties.

Relena sighed as she composed herself and entered.

Some of the candidates looked at her with varying degrees of disinterest, while others seemed nervous to be in the presence of the woman in charge of the entire Earth Sphere.

Milliardo nodded to her before offering her the seat at the head of the table. He stood behind her as she looked around at the candidates.

"Welcome into the employ of the ESUN. I hope you will be able to stay with us, although that means there will be high expectations of you." She said while making sure the warning was clear in her tone.

Their expressions meant they understood her: if they screwed up, even once, they were gone.

"Now, since you've gotten here, you've been brought up to speed on everything we've managed to keep from the media about your predecessors. You've got a pretty big gap to fill, so you will be going through some intensive training over the next several weeks. If you can't take it, you will be sent home. Do you have any questions?" She asked sternly, causing even those who had disinterested expressions become nervous.

Andrew raised his hand and quickly lowered it nervously when Relena's gaze turned to him. "I was just wondering what would happen to us if those other pilots returned."

"You will provide backup for them in situations that call for it." She said casually.

Caden scoffed as he looked across the table at Andrew. "Honestly, what makes you believe they will be back?"

Andrew frowned at Caden. "You were looking at the same information I was, weren't you?" He asked in irritation.

Caden and the others nodded. "All that happened was they simply vanished with an unidentified anomaly. We don't know anything besides that. They could still be alive and could return at any time. We should at least know what to expect if they do."

Caden rolled his eyes as Relena nodded in agreement.

"We have contingency plans for every possible scenario, so you don't have to worry about it. Is that all?" She asked as she glanced around to the others.

They glanced at each other before nodding.

"Good. You're dismissed. We will inform you when the Gundams are functional."

They nodded and left the room.

Relena sighed as she stood. "I really hope that Caden boy doesn't give us any trouble…"

Milliardo nodded as they began going separate ways.

"Where are you going?" She questioned. "I have some things to do before the next meeting. I'll meet you there." He said, glancing back at her.

She simply nodded and walked away.

* * *

Milliardo found his way to a hangar that had been deemed off-limits. He slipped inside and nodded to Noin.

"Are you sure you want to do this behind her back?" She questioned.

He nodded. "It would be best to have an experienced fighter aiding them…" He said as he stared up at the newly rebuilt Tallgeese III…

* * *

**Author's Note:** Look who's back! Huzzah! My dad has a computer that I'm bumming off him every Monday to upload. Hopefully. Things will still be erratic when moving time comes, but for now... enjoy the newest chapter of Gundam! And for those of you impatient with these chapters, rejoice! Chapter 17 will return action to the Gundam Seed universe!

**Author's Reply:** I am already aware of some of the flaws of this story, and will go back to try to correct them once I've gotten everything uploaded, if it's possible to correct them without screwing things up. Thanks for continuing to review even though things have been at a standstill for such a long time!


	17. Enemies

Chapter 17: Enemies

_The seeds of trouble have been sown in the A.C. universe… now things turn back to the C.E. universe, where the situation has escalated. The Earth Forces and ZAFT have taken the war into space. The Archangel, betrayed by its own faction, fled the Earth Forces and headed to Orb. Unfortunately, Orb was no safe haven for them as the Earth Forces attacked Orb. They fled with the Kusanagi, helmed by Cagalli and Kisaka, to space. At the same time, Lacus Clyne of the PLANTs fled the anti-Natural rule of Kira's childhood friend and pilot of the Aegis Gundam, Athrun Zala's father Patrick Zala in the Eternal after he made an attempt on the songstress' life. Now, all three ships have formed an alliance against the Earth Forces and ZAFT. And the Gundam pilots from the A.C. universe find themselves caught in the middle of the biggest conflict the C.E. universe has ever seen…_

The Lunar Earth Forces were preparing to go after the Archangel and the Kusanagi, which had fled into an abandoned colony settlement.

Duo sighed as he finished getting into his uniform. He was still wearing the stolen uniform, and was thankful to learn that the soldiers they had encountered at the Mass Driver were among the dead after the ZAFT assault on it. That way they couldn't cause him any trouble. As he walked out of the change room, he took note of a familiar back and grinned as he began to sneak up on it.

"I didn't expect to see somebody from the Archangel here. How've you been, Natarle?" He asked as he leaned on her shoulder.

Natarle glanced at him in irritation. "So I end up with you, hm?" She sighed as she brushed him off her shoulder, continuing towards the Dominion. "Quatre returned to the Archangel and told us you had separated. Space is hard to survive in without attaching yourself to one of the factions, so he said we could expect to see at least one of you with the Earth Forces…"

Duo chuckled. "Yeah… sadly, your faction is easy to infiltrate." She shot him a dark look.

"I'm guessing you and the Deathscythe Hell are part of the Dominion's arsenal?"

"Yeah… I kinda altered the information on the Dominion so we could hitch a ride in hopes of finding an anomaly." He admitted guiltily.

"Hmph. Well just to warn you: I'm the captain of the Dominion, so you had better listen to me."

Duo's grin returned. "You know we don't listen to authority figures that ain't from our own universe…"

She sighed. "I know that… I was just holding out some hope." She eyed him warily. "What about the others, are we going to be meeting them on the battlefield?"

Duo shrugged casually. "We haven't been in contact since we split up. It'd be too risky in case the transmissions were accidentally intercepted."

"You said you didn't want your Gundams to fall into our hands, so why are you…?"

Duo shrugged. "To boil it down to it's most simplest form... I basically lied my ass off. They think it's a custom job of some obsolete model from an earlier year, so they never showed any interest in it."

She nodded in understanding, not noticing the cringe that had flashed on his face as he said he lied. "All right… you have to see it loaded, don't you?"

He nodded.

"Then I'll see you on the ship."

He saluted to her in the Earth Forces manner. "See you aboard."

She nodded and walked into the ship as Duo watched the other three suits loaded.

The pilots of those Gundams creeped Duo out when he first met them and he's avoided them since, yet he couldn't put a finger on why they seemed to make him feel so uncomfortable despite the fact that they were Naturals… though he secretly held doubts about that status. He had a feeling that things weren't as they appeared with those pilots.

A man in a powder-blue business suit walked up to Duo as the Deathscythe Hell was finally rigged for loading. "That's quite the suit you have there." He said as he eyed the Gundam with a calculating gaze.

"Thanks… who the hell are you?" Duo asked. He hadn't counted on seeing any civilians on the ship.

The man scowled at Duo. "I am Muruta Azrael. I will be overseeing the operations aboard the Dominion. There are two mobile suits in the enemy's hands that I'm very interested in and I want to make sure they're captured. I trust that task to my three hand-chosen pilots. You had just better stay out of their way and make sure you don't get killed."

Duo frowned at him before a sly grin appeared on his face. "Honestly? I think your pilots are the ones who'll have to stay out of my way to make sure they ain't killed… that machine ain't called the 'Deathscythe Hell' for nothing." He said before making his way aboard the Dominion, leaving a very irritated Azrael in his wake.

* * *

Quatre sighed as he stared out at the crews who were stocking up the three ships for the long haul that was ahead of them.

"Things certainly have been crazy around here lately, hm?" Sai asked as he walked up to Quatre.

Quatre nodded in agreement as Sai stood beside him and watched the crews working.

"How do you think the others made out?"

Quatre shook his head. "If they had found anything, they would have informed us. It'll be a harder search now that three of us are in the same place…"

"I find it almost odd that Trowa and Wufei wound up with us. I thought you said that Trowa was heading for Eurasia and Wufei was going to be somewhere in space. But suddenly we're in Orb and we run into Trowa, then we meet the Eternal and Wufei's with it."

Quatre chuckled. "I know what you mean. I never expected to run into any of them so soon after we split up. That does hamper our search, especially now that we're all in space, but at least we're fighting for a good cause."

Sai smiled. "It's strange. When we first met you all, you said you were staying out of our war. Yet here three of you are, fighting alongside of us."

Quatre smiled. "I know. We had a feeling the Archangel would choose the correct path sooner or later once it realized what we had noticed from the beginning."

"An outsider's perspective is really helpful, isn't it?" Sai asked curiously.

Quatre simply shrugged. "Sometimes it's a burden. We notice things that most people ignore because they've lived with it on a constant basis, so we're ignored until it's too late."

"Don't worry. I'm sure your opinions will be taken quick notice of in this alliance."

Quatre smiled. "Thanks… I hope so."

"Oh! That reminds me! Trowa and Wufei are going to meet on the Kusanagi for a little while and they wanted you to join them."

"That's odd… why would they want to meet now?" He muttered before nodding to Sai.

"Thanks, Sai. I'll be back." He patted the younger man on the shoulder as he floated towards the shuttles that were being used to transport personnel between the three ships.

* * *

Trowa and Wufei were waiting in the Kusanagi's lounge when Quatre arrived. "It's about time." Wufei said impatiently.

"Sorry, I got speaking with Sai." Quatre said in embarrassment as he sat beside Trowa.

"That's fine. We aren't really planning on saying much anyways." Trowa said dismissively. "Essentially, we're here to discuss what we'll do when we run into the Wing Zero and the Deathscythe Hell on the battlefield."

"So it really is a matter of 'when' not 'if'? That's almost depressing." Quatre said sadly.

"Cheer up; we'll be able to resume that match of ours that got interrupted by the anomaly." Wufei said casually.

Trowa chuckled in amusement. "Think of it this way: we'll be able to talk to them in the confusion without being noticed."

"That's true. Well… we know Duo can be counted on to desert the Earth Forces, but what about Heero? He was acting a bit shaky before we left." Quatre said uncertainly.

"Heero will come just as quickly as Duo will." Wufei said dismissively. "Heero probably realizes that the climax of this war is coming soon, and that may be our ticket to going home. It's better if we stick together now."

Quatre nodded in relief. "That's true…" He was about to say more before an alert rang out.

"Looks like chat time is over…" Trowa said grimly as they stood and listened to the warning.

"Let's get to work then." Wufei snapped before running from the lounge.

Quatre nodded to Trowa before following Wufei's lead towards the transports. "It's lucky that the Eternal was able to house the Altron. I don't know where you'd be stationed if it wasn't." Quatre said as they waited for their respective transports.

"I'd probably be back on the Archangel. It isn't housing many suits aside from the Sandrock, Buster and Strike. The Kusanagi is the one that's crammed with all those other mass-produced pieces of garbage."

"Just remember that those mass-produced pieces of garbage are helping to defend these ships. You can't look down on mass-produced models when they're on your side. Especially such well designed ones like these are." Quatre said before the transports arrived.

Wufei's response was a simple scoff before climbing into his transport.

Quatre sighed. "What are we going to do with you and Heero…?" He muttered to himself as he climbed into his transport.

The Heavyarms was housed in the same area where the transports loaded and unloaded, so Trowa watched as the transports carrying his friends took off quickly before the Heavyarms followed. "What is it I can expect out there?" He asked as the Heavyarms began to pull away from the Orb ship.

"_We believe it's the Earth Forces, but keep an eye out for ZAFT. They're after the Eternal as much as the Earth Forces are after the Archangel and the Kusanagi."_ Cagalli's voice came through the radio.

He nodded. "Understood…" He said grimly as the Heavyarms joined the Buster and Strike, which were quickly joined by the Freedom, Justice, Altron and Sandrock.

"_Let's go kick our pals' asses."_ Wufei said casually, causing Trowa and Quatre to burst out in laughter, and leaving the others on the communication channel completely lost.

The Gundam pilots had neglected to mention to the Three Ships Alliance that the Wing Zero had joined ZAFT and the Deathscythe Hell had joined the Earth Forces… which meant that they were enemies until defection.

* * *

Heero sat silently in the Vesalius, which had been assigned to chasing the Clyne Faction after they had stolen the Eternal. He had been forced to reveal more than he wanted to, but in the end he had been convincing enough that they allowed him to join.

Yzak Joule frowned at him as he passed on his way to the bridge. Thus far, only Yzak seemed to be suspicious of him, but Heero didn't care as long as the younger pilot didn't get in his way on the battlefield.

He had heard that Flay was on this ship as well, as a captive of Rau Le Creuset, but he had managed to avoid her by transferring to one of the other ships. The only reason for him being on the Vesalius was to find out what he was supposed to do when they encountered the Eternal.

A soldier appeared and handed him several papers. "These are your instructions, Ensign Michaels. You may now return to your ship."

Heero saluted him before floating off towards the transport. However, his luck had run out. He turned a corner on the way to the transport and ran right into Flay, who had been wandering the ship without permission.

Her eyes widened as she recognised him before quickly narrowing in a calculating manner.

Heero moved quickly, knowing she would be trouble for him if she was able to formulate a plan to blackmail him, and pointed his decoy gun at her chest. "Don't say anything to anyone or else you won't live to see the end of this war." He warned icily.

She paled in fear. "Why are you here?" She asked shakily.

"I'm searching for a way home with a convenient cover. That's all you need to know. Forget you ever saw me." She nodded before quickly going a different direction, not wanting to push the dangerous pilot too far.

He watched her carefully until she was out of sight before continuing towards his transport.

By the time she had gotten back to her room, a note waiting for her made her forget about Heero and any plans she had formulated in an attempt at getting revenge against him…

* * *

The Dominion and the Archangel were locked in furious combat, as were its mobile suit forces. After the initial shock of the Dominion being captained by Natarle, and the Deathscythe Hell fighting alongside it, wore off, the fight became very heated.

At the request of the three Gundam pilots, the others avoided combat with the Deathscythe Hell and focused all their attentions on the Calamity, Forbidden and Raider.

"_Hey guys, long time no see."_ Duo said as the Deathscythe Hell's beam scythe swung at the Sandrock, only to be blocked by the Altron's beam trident.

"_Indeed it has been a while. It's amusing to see you fighting with the enemies. Usually it's one of us doing that."_ Trowa said casually as the Heavyarms took advantage of the Deathscythe Hell being caught by the other two and fired upon it.

The Deathscythe Hell broke free of the trap just in time to avoid the barrage.

"_Duo, do you have any plans of deserting the Earth Forces and joining us?"_ Quatre asked worriedly as the Sandrock fired its Vulcan guns at the Deathscythe Hell, which used its shield to block the incoming fire while holding off an aggressive attack by the Altron.

"_Although it will be harder to keep track of anomalies with all of us in one place, but… as soon as the Earth Forces are called to retreat, I'll be waving goodbye to the Dominion."_

The others chuckled in amusement, deciding to keep up the battle charade a little while longer as the Sandrock attacked with its Heat Shotels.

"_What about Heero? We know he's with ZAFT, and we know there are ZAFT in the region, but do we know if he's with them?"_ Quatre asked as the Deathscythe Hell deflected the Sandrock's Heat Shotels.

"_We can't be certain until ZAFT attacks. Let's just hope he isn't. He does have a tendency to… not hold back against us."_ Trowa said, hesitating on the last part of his sentence.

"_Heero does tend to have double standards when it comes to us compared to other enemies. I think we should be honoured by that though. It means he treats us as a threat to him."_ Duo said wryly.

Wufei rolled his eyes as the Altron fired one of its flamethrowers at the Deathscythe Hell, which promptly vanished. _"Damn cheater…"_ Wufei growled in annoyance with the tricky Gundam.

As their battle went on, the others were fighting hard to protect the Archangel and the Kusanagi from the Dominion and the mass produced suits that were assaulting them.

"Who would have thought one of them would be an enemy?" Murrue asked herself between orders.

"_They're handling him pretty well though. We won't have to worry about him getting too close. Besides, I have a feeling we'll be seeing four foreign machines returning."_ Kisaka replied between barking his own orders.

"_Hell, having all five of those machines would be a welcome sight on our side. They thoroughly kicked my ass enough times to merit my admiration."_ Andrew said from the Eternal as it stayed hidden within the colony.

"That's true, but not even they can predict each other's thoughts. I'm worried that one of them will make a decision that will cause the others to stumble. If that happens… they'd be useless on the battlefield." Murrue said worriedly before ordering the Archangel to dodge an incoming attack from the Dominion.

"_They'll be fine. They're professionals at what they do… which seems to be a lot of different things, if you ask me."_ Kisaka said as suddenly, the Dominion fired its retreat flares.

Murrue sighed in relief as the Calamity, Forbidden and Raider returned to the Dominion.

The Deathscythe Hell made a waving gesture to the Dominion before following the others back.

Andrew and Kisaka chuckled as they saw the gesture. _"He's a real joker isn't he?"_

Murrue shook her head. "He'll get himself into a great deal of trouble that way…" She said before ordering the Archangel to retreat back into the colony.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yep. Two chapters in two weeks! Shocking, isn't it? We're back in the C.E. universe until the end of the war! Yay! Please enjoy! I fast forwarded through a bunch of stuff that would have been pretty boring as hell to repeat from the series since most of the A.C. pilots laid pretty low as they tried to gain the trust of their respective factions.

Thanks to Silentx for pointing out a mistake that I missed. That's what I'm counting on you guys for! It's promptly been fixed. To respond about Duo's comment: he essentially condensed how much 'stretching of the truth' he had to do into that simple phrase to save time. He never actually had to outright lie, after all... this is Duo, but it essentially piled up over the time he spent with the Earth Forces.

As for Trowa, Wufei and Quatre? Trowa just ended up wandering around and ended up in Orb just before the Archangel fled there. Wufei got tired of waiting around an area where nothing was happening, so he went out to track down an anomaly. Instead, he found the Clyne Faction fleeing from ZAFT. Quatre fought in the Archangel's many encounters between the Indian Ocean and this chapter, but he kept his involvement to protecting the ship... which meant dealing mostly with mooks. Sorry if this disappoints anyone, but... yeah. That's about all that happened between the time they split up to now. **Please remember that the two universes have the same time speed. Which means that while we're focusing on one universe, the other universe is still plugging along with it's own problems. This will come in to play again later when the sequels to Winged Destiny come out.**


	18. Confusion

Chapter 18: Confusion

Duo sighed in relief once he had changed out of the Earth Forces uniform and back to his priest outfit, which had been hidden in the secret compartment that housed the Deathscythe Hell's blueprints.

"Uniforms are annoying as hell. I'm so glad we're not forced to wear them." He said as he joined Quatre in the lounge of the Archangel.

Quatre chuckled in amusement. "I hate feeling so relaxed when those ZAFT forces could launch an attack at any moment."

Duo shrugged. "We're desensitized to war. We've lived it most of our lives. It's peace that unnerves me now."

"Why?" Quatre asked curiously.

"It's because peace can be disrupted at any time by war. War can be stopped, but it's hard to stop once it really gets going. The way things have been for most of my life, peace is just a breather between wars."

Quatre sighed. "We've become cynical as we've gotten older…" He said wryly. "If our younger selves were to hear us say things like that, they'd probably kill us."

"I know I would, that's for certain." Duo said with a chuckle. "So, any plans for conning Heero into joining us?"

Quatre shrugged. "He may come of his own free will like you did… or he may decide to stay with ZAFT to spread out our forces to keep an eye out for anomalies in areas we can't."

Duo's head snapped around to the hallway as another alert was sounded. "And here comes ZAFT to play… Let's go…" Duo said grimly as Quatre nodded and the two men ran out from the lounge towards the hangar.

* * *

Athrun glanced worriedly at Kira as his friend let out an exhausted sigh. "Are you going to be all right?"

Kira nodded. "I'll be fine. I just know that things will get harder from here on out, even with the return of Duo and the Deathscythe Hell to our forces."

Athrun nodded in understanding as they stayed close to the hangar, knowing that ZAFT would take its turn at them next. "I just hope my father doesn't do anything stupid that could give Co-ordinators a worse name than we've already been given."

"I just wish it would all end soon. I hate this pointless fighting." Kira grumbled.

"You never were cut out for fighting." Athrun said with a slight hint of amusement in his voice. His words seemed to help cheer his friend up as Kira smiled at him.

Lacus quickly joined them. "Are you two all right?" She asked in concern.

Kira and Athrun nodded. "We'll be all right. How are things among the three ships?"

Her expression seemed to flicker from concern to fear before turning into determination. "We will keep fighting to see the Co-ordinators and Naturals finally at peace, even if the ships are destroyed. Nothing will stop us." She said with a strong-willed tone.

Kira and Athrun smiled, grateful to hear such strong words from her.

She folded her hands in front of her as she looked around the hallway they were in. "The ships themselves are in fine condition. The repair crews are very skilled. And the people aboard the ships are just as determined as we are to see this conflict end. We will be all right as long as our spirits hold up."

"That's good to hear. I just hope we don't run into any really serious trouble." Kira said worriedly.

"Oh yes, Kira. Whenever there is a free moment, can you please tell me more about those other pilots? They do not seem to be from around here, and their mobile suits are quite unique." Lacus asked as curiosity seemed to take over.

Kira nodded. "I'll tell you as much as I know about them… although it isn't much…"

"_Hey, I'm sorry to break up the party down there, but ZAFT's on its way!"_ Andrew's voice held a strong sense of urgency as an alert sounded on the Eternal.

"Time to head out again…" Kira said with a sigh of exhaustion as he and Athrun ran towards the hangar, leaving Lacus to watch their backs worriedly before quickly returning to her place on the bridge.

* * *

"_So what's happening out there?"_ Duo asked as the Gundams gathered together outside of the colony after having taken care of most of the mass produced suits that ZAFT had sent after them.

"The Strike and the Buster engaged the Duel and a CGUE a while ago, but we haven't been able to contact them. The Wing Zero has just been picked up on our radars and is heading right for us. The Freedom went over to help the Buster and the Strike, so we'll leave the Wing Zero to you." Murrue said quickly.

Duo whistled at how chaotic things were with only a small force. _"All right, that's fine by us. Maybe we can convince him to rejoin us."_

Murrue cringed at the thought of having such a trouble-maker back on board her ship, but acknowledged them anyways.

"Captain…?" Miriallia asked uncertainly.

"Keep trying to contact Dearka and Mwu." She said absently as she continued to monitor the radars that showed the Dominion and the ZAFT warships. She was worried about Mwu, but knew she had to keep those ships from being able to ambush them. Especially the Dominion, because it was in the hands of a woman whose knowledge of the Archangel and its crew could prove to be the Archangel's downfall.

"Ma'am! The Dominion and the ZAFT vessels are on the move!" Sai warned.

Murrue snapped out of her thoughts as she looked at him in horror. "Is there any word on Mwu and the others?"

"Yes ma'am! Kira's returning with the Strike and the Buster. Mwu's been injured!"

Murrue paled in concern for Mwu, but knew she had to keep the people aboard the ship in one piece. "Inform the Kusanagi and the Eternal that we're moving out to meet the Dominion! Have those four intercepted the Wing Zero?"

Sai nodded. "Yes ma'am. The Wing Zero poses no threat to us as long as they can keep him at bay."

"All right. All hands, level one battle stations! Let's make it out of this alive…" She said grimly as the image of the Dominion began to get closer.

* * *

The Gundams surrounded the Wing Zero, preventing it from getting closer to the Three Ships Alliance.

"_Sorry, Heero, but if you're with ZAFT, we can't let you through."_ Duo said warily as the Deathscythe Hell held its beam scythe in a defensive position.

"_Please join us Heero. I really don't want to have to fight you."_ Quatre pleaded.

"_I see you jumped ship as soon as you met the others."_ Heero said as the Wing Zero turned towards the Deathscythe Hell, effectively ignoring Quatre's plea.

"_Damn straight I did. Natarle's the only decent person on that ship… which is saying something. And there's definitely something wrong with those pilots…"_ Duo trailed off as an involuntary shudder formed.

Heero's eyes narrowed. Their instincts about people were pretty sharp due to years of training, so if they felt like something was wrong with somebody that typically meant there was. The only thought that came to his mind was: 'what are the people of this universe capable of besides genetic enhancements?'. He shook his head to clear away those thoughts as the Vesalius notified him that it was entering combat and that he was to join the attack on the Eternal.

Quatre repeated his plea as they were notified that the Eternal, Kusanagi and the Archangel were entering combat with both ZAFT and the Earth Forces.

"_Don't worry. The others can handle it. Well, Heero? What's your decision?"_ Wufei asked as the Altron aimed its dragon claw at the Wing Zero in case his response was to attack them.

"_There have been things that have been bothering me since we separated. I need more time to sort them out."_ Heero said, causing the others to quickly move their Gundams into defensive positions.

"_I guess you know what happens next, then. Either you retreat or we have no choice but to keep you from joining the other ZAFT forces."_ Trowa cautioned as the Heavyarms aimed its Gatling gun at the Wing Zero's chest.

"_Are you certain we can't help you?"_ Quatre asked.

"_You can't."_ Heero said simply before the Wing Zero's thrusters roared to life and it charged the Heavyarms head-on. Trowa had no time to react as the Wing Zero forced the Gatling gun aside and ploughed roughly into his Gundam.

"_Damn, I hate when he goes into his suicidal fighting style!"_ Duo roared in annoyance as the Deathscythe Hell separated the Wing Zero from the Heavyarms by slashing at it with the beam scythe.

The Wing Zero was forced to fly upwards as the Altron's dragon claws flew at him. Despite being outnumbered, the Wing Zero managed to hold its own against its fellow Gundams; however it was steadily being pushed back towards the Vesalius.

* * *

As the battles raged on, the Vesalius dumped a pod from it. Unknown to all, despite Flay's mysterious message, the battle they were facing now would be considered nothing compared to what lay ahead. However, the battle before them was what mattered, as the Eternal and the Kusanagi charged through the Vesalius and its companion ships, destroying the Vesalius as the Archangel fled after them.

All three groups were forced to regroup as Heero left with the Duel and the CGUE, and the Dominion began to retreat back to the Lunar Base.

"_Commander Waltfeld, this is Wufei. We're going to stay outside and guard your retreat until we find a temporary save haven."_ Wufei said as he contacted the Eternal.

"_You don't want to rest?"_ Andrew asked in concern.

"_We'll be fine. We're still in good shape. Don't worry; we know when to back down. We'll return to our ships when we need to."_

Andrew sighed, but nodded in understanding. _"All right… We're relying heavily on you guys. The others are completely drained."_

"_We understand."_ Wufei said simply before switching to their private channel.

"_What do you think would cause Heero to be reluctant to join us?"_ Quatre asked worriedly.

"_Could it have something to do with Relena?"_ Duo offered.

Trowa shook his head. _"I doubt it. They have an unspoken mutual understanding, and that's been working out quite well these past four years."_

"_That's true… I guess the best thing we can do is just sit back and hope he works out whatever it is that's bothering him… for now. We'll go check in on him in a while though."_

Their conversation continued as the Three Ships Alliance finally found a place to rest their exhausted crew and get re-supplied from sympathisers within the Plants. However, they kept a wary watch on ZAFT and the Earth Forces as fear of what Flay's 'key' was began to bring unwanted thoughts to the leaders of the Three Ships Alliance's minds…

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Tadaa. Another chapter. Things are winding up to the big battle, with the finish close in sight. Unfortunately, this chapter will be the last for a while. As seen on my profile, I'm moving. So... yeah. No chapters for a while. Sorry about this!

**Author's Reply:** Exia - I'm fully aware of shades of gray. And what Heero did was not insignificant to Flay at the time. He tried to derail her plans for Kira and openly threatened her life. Yes, she's gotten better since then, but she does seem the type to hold a grudge. And that's what she's doing, more or less, against Heero. As for the timeline thing? It makes things convenient for me.

**Everyone: I have not read Gundam Seed Astray and it seems like that will never happen considering that these stories have pretty much killed my liking for Gundam Seed in general. Please stop asking me to put elements of Astray into the story. These stories are officially, 100% done. They are set in stone now. Sorry if this is a disappointment to anyone, but my level of frustration from spending over a year on this trilogy has increased substantially as time went on. I'm done completely. Slight modifications will be made as each chapter is uploaded, but other than that... it's not getting any modifications until my frustrations with it disappear.**


	19. ZERO's Malfunction

Chapter 19: ZERO's Malfunction

Things were about to take a turn for the worse, but for now all of the factions involved in the war were in the process of recuperating.

Trowa stood and stared out a window on the Kusanagi.

_Could the Earth Forces sink so low as to use nuclear missiles? We'd be out of our league if that were to happen… Romefeller, OZ, and all of the other factions we faced never even considered that, despite all the tactics they used…_

He sighed before noticing Cagalli standing by his side. "What brings you here?" He asked.

Cagalli looked at the floor. "I was just wondering how your friends were able to survive so long within the Earth Forces and ZAFT without being found out…"

Trowa nodded as he resumed staring out the window. Half of his face was hidden in his reflection by his hair, and he was reminded of the mask he always wore in the circus. "We're well trained to blend in to our environment. We can fool anyone we choose and we can make the ruse as elaborate as it needs to be in order to survive in an enemy's faction…"

Cagalli glanced at him warily. "And how do we know that all of what you're doing now isn't one big ruse?"

Trowa closed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. "You don't." He said with a slight smirk, which faded quickly. "However, you have no need to worry. We fully understand the situation. We're on your side one hundred percent… with the exception of Heero. However, I'm sure he realizes that we've found those on the right path… he just needs some time to be alone right now."

Cagalli nodded in understanding. "Thanks for your help… this would probably be much harder without it."

"I highly doubt it. All we've been doing is dealing with the grunts most of the time; all of you have been doing the hard work. We're keeping our involvement to a minimum." Trowa said. He sighed and shook his head. "Anyways, we're going on patrol now. I have a feeling I'll be seeing you on the battlefield later." He said as he walked away. A simple backhanded wave was his way of saying goodbye.

She watched him leave before she decided to return to the Kusanagi's bridge, wondering how he knew that she was considering entering the next battle they would be in.

* * *

The Gundams hovered above the Eternal for a few moments, discussing what should be done about their comrade in enemy hands, before they reached a decision.

"_Eternal… I'm sorry, but we're skipping on patrol duty. We're going to go and try to convince Heero to join us. He's been given plenty of time to think about whatever it was he wanted to think about."_ Quatre said as the others started in the direction of the Plants.

"_We understand. Do what you can."_ Lacus' voice replied as the Sandrock waved to the Eternal before catching up with the others.

They quickly switched over to their private channel to avoid accidentally being picked up by anyone listening in to different channels for unsavoury reasons.

Duo sighed as he tracked the Wing Zero's last known co-ordinates thanks to the locator in each of their Gundams. _"All right… I have his location. Let's bring back that crazy son of a-"_

"_Duo!"_ Quatre said in warning.

"_What? I wasn't actually going to finish that sentence!"_ A small disagreement broke out between the two as the Gundams followed the signal to the Wing Zero's location.

The disagreement was finally broken up by some choice words from Wufei, much to the relief of Trowa. It was a volatile area they were entering and the last thing they needed to be doing was arguing amongst themselves.

"_With all the nuclear weapons present, do you think it could force an anomaly to appear?"_ Quatre questioned.

"_I wouldn't be surprised… we'll just have to keep a close eye on the situation and wait for one big enough to do so…"_ Trowa said grimly.

"_And hope that nobody gets killed in the process."_ Duo replied with an expression equally as grim.

* * *

Shock froze the Gundams in their place just outside the radar range of the Plants. The sight before them was something they hadn't seen in years and had hoped to never see again despite all the carnage they had witnessed in this war.

The best they could assume was that some of the Earth Forces mobile suit forces decided to go rogue and attacked the Plants of their own accord. And there waiting for them had been the Wing Zero. The debris of several mobile suits littered space and the Wing Zero floated unmoving in the midst of it.

"_Guys… something is definitely wrong…"_ Quatre said shakily.

"_He's right. The Wing Zero would have either fired on us or Heero would have spoken to us as soon as we entered the Wing Zero's radar range…"_ Trowa's voice was steady, but he was pale with worry.

The Deathscythe Hell vanished from sight. A few moments later, the Wing Zero began to float towards the others. Once out of the Plant's range, the Deathscythe Hell reappeared behind the Wing Zero.

"_Come on… let's take him back to the Archangel."_ Duo said calmly as the Deathscythe Hell pushed the Wing Zero away from the Plants.

"_Do you think he's all right?"_ Quatre asked worriedly.

"_He probably knocked his head against something… so he's more than likely simply unconscious. He'll be furious when he finds out we dragged him back to the Three Ships Alliance though. That's one thing you can be certain of."_ Wufei said as the Altron helped the Deathscythe Hell manoeuvre the unmoving Gundam.

Trowa nodded warily. _"We should make sure to hide both of his guns. Blanks may not be real bullets, but they still hurt."_ The others nodded in agreement as they made their way slowly back to the Three Ships Alliance's hideaway.

* * *

All five Gundams were in the Archangel's hangar as the others stood around the hatch to the Wing Zero warily. As it opened, Heero's unconscious form tumbled from the cockpit.

"Heero!" Quatre yelled as Duo and Wufei reacted quickly, grabbing him before he could fall off the kneeling Gundam.

Trowa took the guns from beneath his uniform shirt and his leg holster, stashing them in the Wing Zero's secret compartment where Heero's clothes were hidden.

"I suggest for now that we take him to our room, Duo. It will be easier as we're the only ones in it." Quatre instructed shakily as Duo and Wufei climbed carefully from the Wing Zero, still holding Heero's unconscious body between them. "Trowa, please go alert the Archangel's medical crew to come examine him. There is something very off about this and I don't like it." Quatre's voice became calmer as he instructed the others what to do.

Trowa nodded and ran from the hangar as Wufei and Duo followed Quatre to their room.

* * *

The doctor shrugged as he stood from examining Heero. "Physically he's fine. There are no external or internal injuries..." The doctor said as an expression of confusion crossed his face. "I guess the best thing we can do for him is let him rest and see if he comes to. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."

The others shook their heads as the doctor left. "So that means it's a mental thing…" Trowa muttered beneath his breath as they looked at him.

"Could it be the strain of being in a strange universe?" Quatre threw out as an explanation.

Wufei scoffed dismissively. "I highly doubt Heero's so weak that he'd let something like that affect him. In fact, I suspect he'd be the last of us standing if that were the case." The others reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"So what the hell would knock him out like that?" Duo muttered.

"I don't know… but I suggest we don't leave him alone just in case he wakes up. However, we can't crowd him… so I'll request that the room next to this one be commissioned into use." Trowa said calmly before leaving the room.

"I guess I've got first watch on him." Duo said as he sat in the bed across from Heero.

"I'll take over in about two hours." Quatre volunteered, with Wufei agreeing immediately behind him.

When Trowa returned, Quatre and Duo shifted their belongings to the room next to Heero's while Trowa and Wufei went to the Kusanagi and Eternal to gather their belongings, wanting to be near their comrade in case he happened to wake up.

* * *

Duo sat across from Heero, keeping a watchful eye on his old friend.

Heero began muttering something, causing Duo to jump up and listen closely. The mumbles ceased as Heero fell back into a deeper state of unconsciousness.

Duo cursed under his breath before summoning the others from the next room.

"What's wrong Duo?" Quatre asked worriedly as they came in.

"He muttered some things. I couldn't understand most of them, but I did manage to get two words… and it could explain everything that's happened to him." Duo said grimly.

"Well spit it out already." Wufei snapped impatiently.

"He said: 'ZERO' and 'malfunctioning'."

"So, what? Is the Wing Zero experiencing a malfunction?" Wufei questioned in annoyance.

Duo shook his head. "The way he said 'ZERO'… I think he was talking about _that_…" He said grimly.

The others suddenly paled as they caught on to what he meant: the ZERO System. The system designed by the original Gundam scientists and implemented in the original Wing Zero that enhanced the pilot's ability in battle by showing the pilot all possible scenarios for the outcome of the battle and allowing the human pilot to choose which course of action to take. There was a massive flaw with it though: the mental strain it created on the pilot was enough to literally tear the pilot's mind apart if they weren't mentally strong-willed enough.

All of the Gundam pilots were fully experienced with the menacing system and could control it, however only the Wing Zero had been implemented with the ZERO system before they had been rolled out for guard duty. The others had been scheduled to receive it at a later time, although even one Gundam having the system was deemed one too many by other politicians.

"That would explain a lot… remember: Heero said he feared to use it here despite it being in perfect working order. We didn't know what kind of effects it would have in this universe." Quatre said as he glanced down at Heero, fearing now for his sanity.

"I'm going to go check to see if I can figure out what the hell is wrong with it to see if there's anything we can do to help him." Duo said. He left before any of the others could stop him. So they were left to wait and worry about him and Heero.

* * *

An hour had passed before Duo stumbled back into the room: pale, sweating and shaking. He was caught by Wufei before he could collapse.

"What happened?" Quatre asked worriedly as Wufei sat him on the bed across from Heero.

Duo shook his head and took several minutes to recover before he could speak. "Heero was right… I don't know what's wrong with it, but it's like the system went into overdrive. I began running a simulation with the ZERO system activated and it went berserk. It attacked my emotional centre instead of feeding me battle data." He explained shakily as he tried to get control of himself.

The others paled as they looked at him. "What do you mean by 'attacked'?" Trowa asked.

"I can't understand it myself, but that's the best way I can describe it. A few minutes into the simulation and suddenly my emotions went out of control. I couldn't even bring myself to shut down the system until I managed to get control enough to do so. That was fifteen minutes into the attack…" Duo glanced across the room to Heero. "There were probably a hundred or so mobile suits there, right?"

The others nodded.

"Even with the ZERO system, it'd take a lot longer than fifteen minutes to bring them all down without using the twin buster rifle… and it was never fired. The energy chamber for it was fully loaded. We all know that it takes a day before it's fully recharged from the empty state, and Heero wouldn't hold back any of that energy in a space battle."

"For a man like Heero, who rarely shows emotions, if that were to happen to him for a prolonged period of time… who knows what kind of mental damage he took?" Trowa frowned down at Heero as Quatre helped Duo to stand.

"Go get some rest. I'll take over the rest of your shift." Trowa said as Duo was helped out of the room.

Trowa and Wufei exchanged grim glances with each other before Wufei left.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'm baaaack! =D Still on my dad's computer, but hey, it's better than not uploading at all. Hopefully I can come by every Wednesday or so to upload. In the meanwhile, enjoy the new chapter. I don't have much to say about it. The ZERO system is a fun little thing though.


	20. Nuclear Retribution

Chapter 20: Nuclear Retribution

Duo yawned in exhaustion as he entered Heero's room almost a week later.

The door closed behind him as he went for the lights, only to be slammed back against the door with a hand tightly clamped around his throat.

"It's… good to see you're awake…" He managed to choke out. The hand released him and he gasped for air as Heero turned on the lights.

"Where am I? What happened?" Heero snapped.

Duo held his hand up telling Heero to wait until he caught his breath. He massaged his neck while muttering curses under his breath. "Man, did you have to choke me that hard?"

"Considering I didn't know where I was, I had to take precautions." Heero replied coolly.

Duo sighed. "Unfortunately, you're among friends now. You're back on the Archangel whether you like it or not."

Heero looked away as Duo leaned against the bunk opposite his.

"By the way, what the hell were you thinking when you decided against your own words and use the ZERO System?" Duo snapped as irritation began to take over.

Heero glanced at him with a flicker of confusion, which quickly vanished as the memories leading up to him slipping into unconsciousness returned. "I had never revealed the twin buster rifle's power to the Co-ordinators. The size and destructive force of the blasts it fires at even half of its power would have been a dead giveaway that the Wing Zero was powered by a nuclear reactor. When those Earth Forces attacked, I had no choice but to fight close ranged to avoid raising suspicion."

"You were on the edge of their radar range, why didn't you just pull the fight out of it?" Duo questioned in confusion.

"Unsurprisingly, despite all I've done to gain their trust, they forbade me from taking a battle out of the range of the Plants radar system if one should occur." Heero said with cold amusement. "As for killing them before they reached radar range and lying about it, that was a no-go either. They have energy sensors that would have detected the discharge of the twin buster rifle as soon as I fired it."

Duo whistled. "So your hands really were tied on using the twin buster rifle, eh? But around a hundred mass-produced piles of junk should be no problem for you without activating the ZERO System, shouldn't they have?" He asked curiously.

"There were far more than the debris implied. I had no choice but to activate the system. Around a hundred of them were all I was able to bring down before the others retreated. It's a good thing they did, as I assume you're already aware by now, the ZERO System appeared to be functioning normally, to a point. However, it was also malfunctioning."

"I know. I was stupid enough to check it out after you mentioned it in your sleep."

"For a while there, I almost thought you were smart. You've just proven me wrong." Heero said with a slight smile.

"Hey!" Duo muttered insults under his breath for a few moments before a sly grin appeared on his face. "You know… when we came along, your Gundam left the radar range of its own accord."

Heero shot a dangerous look at him, realizing what Duo had done, and what he was implying. "I should shoot you right now."

Duo laughed. "With what? We don't bring our guns into the room, and your guns are stashed away in case the ZERO System's malfunction caused you to go insane. Fortunately, your sanity seems to be in tact… what little you had at least."

Heero rolled his eyes. "Just catch me up on what's been happening. Any word on what that 'key' was?"

Duo shook his head as he launched into an explanation that started from when they found the Wing Zero in space and went up to the point when he walked into Heero's room.

* * *

With no alternatives at his disposal, Heero decided to stay with the Three Ships Alliance. With the combined might of the A.C. universe Gundams and the Freedom and the Justice as their primary force, the Three Ships Alliance was confident that they could end the war with as little violence as possible… that was until the Earth Forces attacked the fortress Boaz, ZAFT's first line of defence.

The neutral forces listened to reports sent to them by Clyne Faction supporters in the Plants with great concern as the Earth Forces made their move. When the reports first started coming in, there was great confusion around the neutral forces. Boaz was next to impossible to defeat in a head on assault, yet here the Earth Forces were attacking something they knew would end up being a suicide mission.

Then the news came in: Boaz was annihilated. The Earth Forces had their nuclear arsenal back at their disposal and they had made it clear with Boaz that they had every intention of using it.

"That'd probably be thanks to that Azrael asshole." Duo growled angrily when they heard as they stood gathered on the Archangel's bridge.

"What should we do?" Murrue asked the screens that held the grim faces of Kisaka with Cagalli and Andrew with Lacus.

"_Their next target will be the Plants. We must stop them at all costs. We're moving out!"_ Andrew growled.

The others nodded in agreement just as news came in that the Earth Forces were heading towards the Plants.

"We're going too, Captain Ramius." Trowa said as all the pilots of the Three Ships Alliance made their way to their mobile suits.

* * *

The Freedom and the Justice, with the aid of the METEOR attachments, prevented the first barrage of nuclear missiles from hitting the Plants.

The rest of the mobile suits caught up in time to help stop the next wave.

"_Heero, are you going to use-?"_ Duo's question was cut off as the tip of the twin buster rifle erupted, followed by several massive explosions as the beam destroyed the majority of the second wave.

With no time to stare in shock at its destructive power, the others quickly went to work on destroying the ones that were fired late and missed the rifle's blast.

"_Good one, Heero. I was worried you were going to keep holding back on us."_ Duo said as the Deathscythe Hell and the Sandrock took aim at the mobile armours that were firing the nuclear missiles.

"_There's no reason to. You're already fully aware that the Wing Zero is nuclear-powered and the capabilities of the twin buster rifle, so why make our job any harder?"_ The others chuckled weakly at his words.

Kira had been watching and was secretly thankful that Heero had decided to fight fair and not use that rifle in their fight… or else he knew he wouldn't be here for this battle. He still held some animosity towards the older pilot, but knew that the battlefield was no place for personal grudges… especially when nuclear missiles were involved.

After the second wave was destroyed, Yzak stared at the Wing Zero as he realized that his suspicions about the 'new recruit' were true. "Damn him…" Yzak muttered as an evacuation warning began to flash on his screen. He stared at it in shock for a few moments before screaming at the Three Ship Alliance's mobile suits and ships to flee the battlefield.

* * *

ZAFT and the neutral forces were barely out of the way when a massive beam was fired from the Co-ordinator's secret weapon: GENESIS.

The beam annihilated almost all of the Earth Forces' army that had been sent out against the Plants. Those who were missed by the GENESIS could only stare in awe and horror at the power it had.

Both the Earth Forces and the Three Ships Alliance began to retreat as they listened to a sickening speech being made by the chairman of the Plants, Patrick Zala.

When they found shelter, everyone gathered on the Eternal except those who were overseeing the mobile suits. From the grim discussions about what the GENESIS was, came a mutual agreement that both sides had to be stopped from annihilating each other before the Earth was completely void of life.

"It may not be our Earth, but it's still Earth. We're not going to let that weapon destroy it. And we refuse to see any more innocents die. We've watched it too often in both our universe and this one to let it keep going. We'll fight with you to the very end." Quatre said with strong determination that was reflected in his fellow pilot's expressions.

Lacus and Murrue nodded before Miriallia notified them that the Earth Forces had begun towards Jachin Due, the second fortress of the Plants and where the GENESIS was.

Everyone began to head back to their respective ships in order to prepare to intervene before any more destruction could be wrought by both sides. Not knowing if they'd make it back alive, everyone from the C.E. universe said their goodbyes to those they cared for.

The A.C. pilots immediately took off from the Archangel and stood as an advanced guard for the Three Ships as they waited for the 'go ahead' order from the Eternal.

Once it was given, the Three Ships Alliance began towards the ensuing battle between ZAFT and the Earth Forces, hoping to end the slaughter before it truly began…

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry it's so short, but at this point I think I was just in a rush to get this story done. Hope you enjoy it.


	21. War's End

Chapter 21: War's End

The GENESIS was fired again, this time destroying the Lunar Base of the Earth Forces. The neutral forces split up as the Dominion and the nuclear force set their sights on the Plants colonies.

While the strongest mobile suits of the neutral force went to aid the ZAFT defence forces intercept the nuclear missiles before they could destroy any of the colonies, the A.C. universe pilots stayed with the Eternal and the Kusanagi to break through the fighting at Jachin Due to reach the fortress and stop the GENESIS.

"_Well at least it's five fully armed Gundams plus two warships against a crap load of these piles of junk!"_ Duo said as both ZAFT and the Earth Forces ganged up on them.

"_I have to agree with you on that… it makes the battle much easier with it being so spread out between us and with each of us fighting at our maximum force. Besides, they are fighting each other too."_ Heero said as the Wing Zero's twin buster rifle erupted, destroying several ZAFT and Earth Forces mobile suits.

The Deathscythe Hell swung its beam scythe and in its wake were several explosions. _"You know… I honestly have to question why they explode pink. Of all the colours that exist, why are the explosions pink?"_ He asked incredulously before dodging incoming fire from ZAFT mobile suits.

"_If you have time enough to be talking idly, then you aren't fighting hard enough!"_ Wufei snapped in irritation as the Altron's flamethrowers burned through several suits' engines, causing them to explode.

"_It probably has something to do with the way they are powered. We don't know what their battery cells are made from, so we don't know if a chemical in it could be causing the unusual explosion colour."_ Quatre explained casually as the Sandrock slashed its way through two Earth Forces mobile suits.

"_However, would that explain why the ships seem to explode in a similar colour fashion?"_ Trowa questioned as the hail of bullets and missiles from the Heavyarms destroyed a ZAFT warship.

"_True… and I don't have an answer for that, but I do know that we're going to regret it if that damn monstrosity is fired again…"_ Quatre growled grimly as the Sandrock took out several more mobile suits.

They kept a close and wary eye on the GENESIS as the old piece that fired on the Lunar Base was quickly being replaced with a new one.

"_That… we can all agree on…"_ Heero said grimly as the twin buster rifle ran out of power and the Wing Zero quickly replaced it with its twin beam sabre, slicing several mobile suits in half as they converged on him, hoping to take advantage of the Wing Zero as it was forced to change weapons.

* * *

Several moments into the fighting, news came in that the Justice was returning to help destroy the GENESIS. However, news also reached them that Mwu La Flaga and the Strike were destroyed defending the Archangel from an attack by the Dominion, which itself was destroyed by return fire from the Archangel.

"_Damn… he was a good man…"_ Duo said sadly before destroying some missiles that were aimed at the Eternal.

The others nodded in silent agreement as Lacus made one last plea to ZAFT to try and stop them from using GENESIS again.

As the Calamity and Forbidden were destroyed and a new Gundam piloted by Rau entered the fray, the casualties rose further with the destruction of an escape pod from the Dominion carrying Flay Allster and the Dominion's crew.

A hard decision was finally made by Lacus as the Providence began to close in on them. _"Wing Zero, Deathscythe Hell, Heavyarms, Sandrock, Altron… please return to the Eternal at once. Do not worry about us. We will be able to hold our own."_

As the Providence was intercepted by the Freedom, the A.C. Gundams reluctantly retreated into the Eternal's hangar.

* * *

They returned to the bridge just as Athrun and Cagalli announced that they were heading into Jachin Due to destroy the controls of the GENESIS.

Lacus' eyes narrowed before their arrival caught her attention.

"Why'd you want us to return?" Quatre asked worriedly.

"I had heard from the others about you. Despite your words earlier, you had initially wished to stay out of our war. I am granting your wish." She raised a hand to silence the protests that were raised. "I understand that your minds have changed during the course of this war. However, I have other tasks that require your skills."

They stared at her in surprise as she floated from her chair and hovered in front of Duo.

"Mr. Maxwell, this battle will be the last, I am certain of it…" Her voice quieted as she whispered to Duo so none of the others could hear.

His expression darkened with her words before she passed him a slip of paper.

He nodded. "I'll be back in time for the final fireworks." Duo said grimly before leaving the bridge.

"Can you please help repair the damage to the Eternal and the Kusanagi? I do not believe this war will drag on past this point, but keeping damage to a minimum will help keep the ships from being destroyed. Our mechanics will instruct you on what has to be done." The others nodded before making their way off the bridge.

Lacus stopped Heero before he could go with them. "I need you to break into Jachin Due's computer system to help Athrun. I fear he may not be able to stop them on his own." The fear for her friends in her eyes made Heero nod as he went over to a control panel.

"We already have access to their system, but we need to get past their security." She hovered over his shoulder worriedly as his fingers flew over the keyboard.

He hit several dead ends before shaking his head. "They know it's an outside source. There's no access no matter what tricks I try… of course, I doubt there is any sort of an external access. Your fortresses are designed differently."

She nodded in understanding. "Thank you for trying Mr. Yuy."

Heero frowned as he stared at the battle raging out in space before he went to join the others.

* * *

The others returned to the bridge when Duo informed them that he was on his way back. They stared at him in shock as he came in with blood pouring from his cheek.

He made a dismissive wave at Lacus as she asked if he needed medical attention before pulling her over to a corner and talking quietly to her.

She nodded in response to whatever he was saying before she took a package he had been holding.

"I thank you deeply. Now please go and get that wound looked after." She said as they returned to the others.

"Once I do that, we're heading out to the battlefield… there's something we want to check. This may be the last time we see you guys."

Andrew nodded at them as Lacus saw them off the bridge with a worried expression.

"What do you think that means?" She questioned.

Andrew shrugged. "What's in the package?"

She shook her head. "I am sorry Mr. Waltfeld, but it is a secret…"

Andrew nodded in understanding as the Archangel limped into visual range.

* * *

The doctor examined Duo's wound while he cleaned it. "This looks like a bullet wound…"

Duo shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised."

The others watched as the doctor began to stitch it up.

Once that was finished, Duo hopped from the table and thanked the doctor.

"All right, let's go." He said quickly before heading towards the hangar.

"What was in the package?" Trowa asked.

Duo shook his head. "Even if it doesn't involve us, I'm not saying anything. She wanted it kept a secret and I intend to take it with me to the grave."

The others rolled their eyes as they entered the hangar and ran towards their Gundams.

* * *

Jachin Due began to self-destruct, which was the signal for the GENESIS to fire one last time: at Washington D.C. on Earth.

The Justice was forced to self-destruct inside to set off a nuclear explosion which would stop the GENESIS from firing.

However, the GENESIS was able to begin before the explosion stopped it, causing a small blast to destroy what remained of the Providence Gundam. The Providence and the Freedom had been battling in front of the GENESIS, and the Freedom was engulfed in the explosion created when the GENESIS was destroyed.

The Gundam pilots grimly looked at what remained of Jachin Due and the GENESIS as they passed the Strike Rouge, which was following Birdy in search of the Freedom's remains.

"_I hope Kira's all right…"_ Quatre said sadly.

"_Aren't you glad our universe never resorted to such measures?"_ Duo asked as they began a radar sweep of the area.

"_I don't know… dropping a colony onto the Earth could be considered just as bad…"_ Trowa said as he examined his radar.

"_Found one!"_ Duo roared triumphantly as he told them the co-ordinates.

"_Could it really lead home?"_ Wufei asked warily as they began to make their way to the spot.

"_There's only one way to find out…"_ Heero said as they stopped near its location, safely out of the gravitational pull's range as they watched debris from mobile suits, Jachin Due and the GENESIS vanish into the nothing that was the anomaly.

"_Archangel, Kusanagi, and Eternal… Good luck to you all in the future. We hope everyone is all right. We're leaving now and we hope you all find peace once and for all."_ Quatre said, representing all the A.C. pilots.

"_Roger that. Take care, you guys. Good luck in your world."_ Andrew replied as similar messages came in from the Archangel and the Kusanagi.

The Gundams pushed themselves a slight bit closer, into the range of the anomaly's gravitational pull and shut down their thrusters.

The Wing Zero was the closest and the first to be pulled in, followed by the others in the same order they had been taken before.

The Strike Rouge found the Freedom's remains and Kira's unconscious form floating beside it, tears streaming from all three weary pilots' eyes as the Three Ships Alliance slowly made their way into the debris to find them, listening to the speech presented by some Plants officials regarding new peace talks between ZAFT and the Earth Forces.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Yep, nearing the end. Sorry for the delay in uploading this, but my dad's comp was out of commission until this week. A bit of my own confused curiosity made it into this chapter with Duo's question about the pink explosions that were so prevalent in Gundam Seed. I haven't found any really good sources that explain that, so it's always just been a bit of a mystery. Hope you enjoy!


	22. Safe and Sound

Chapter 22: Safe and Sound

As their eyes readjusted to their surroundings after the blinding flash of the anomaly's exit, the Gundam pilots stared around warily, looking for any familiar landmark in the desolate space they had found themselves in.

Debris from the C.E. universe surrounded them, making each pilot question if they had really left.

"Are we home?" Trowa asked worriedly.

"Yeah we are! That's colony Y1958! It's the L2 cluster! We're really home!" Duo said excitedly as the Deathscythe Hell pointed towards the dark metallic mass nearby flecked with lights.

Quatre joined Duo in cheering, while the other three remained pleasantly silent as the Gundams flew towards the colony where, unknown to them, Relena and the Defence Council were overseeing the final stages of their replacement's simulation training sessions in their Gundams.

* * *

A soldier ran into the control room overlooking the simulation chamber. "Lady Relena!" He said urgently.

Everyone looked at him, which suddenly made him feel slightly uncomfortable.

"What is it?" Relena asked with a bit of snap in her tone.

His entrance reminded her all too clearly of the last time a soldier came to her urgently, and that time had almost brought down the ESUN's entire security structure.

It didn't help that the training had been putting a strain on everyone involved, and Relena wasn't in the mood to hear about any more bad news.

The soldier flinched in fear at her tone before deciding it was better to get his duty over with. "Our radars picked up a large amount of debris that suddenly appeared near the colony."

"What? Did something explode?" Milliardo asked worriedly. Dealing with the aftermath of an explosion was the last thing they needed at that moment.

The soldier shook his head. "It just suddenly appeared. However, the debris was masking other signals…" He hesitated to speak as the new pilots piped up, questioning whether they were going to have to fight.

"Tell us what's happening." Noin ordered, causing the soldier to jump in fear as Milliardo snapped at the new pilots to be silent.

"There were six signals among the debris that we were able to pick out. One of them matched the signature of the anomaly that appeared several months ago." Everyone stared at the soldier as he cleared his throat; expressions of guarded hope surrounded him as he continued.

In their Gundams, the new pilots wore mixtures of anticipation, annoyance, anger and worry as they listened carefully to hear what the other five signals were.

"The other signatures matched those of the Wing Zero, Deathscythe Hell, Heavyarms, Sandrock and Altron Gundams. However, we haven't been able to raise a response from them so we can't be certain if they're being piloted by Mr. Yuy, Mr. Maxwell, Mr. Barton, Mr. Winner and Mr. Wufei or if somebody else is." The soldier finished.

"Ma'am! We're getting a private transmission!" One of the operators in the room said in surprise.

"Let it through." Relena said as they gathered around him.

_"Hello Y1958! I have no freakin' clue where this will end up being relayed to…"_ Duo's voice slipped into a mutter for a few moments. _"Anyways, this is Duo Maxwell saying that the cavalry is home and wanting to chat to Relena or the Defence Council if they're anywhere in space! Could you please hook us up with them?"_

Relena burst into laughter at Duo's politely toned question. The others stared in disbelief at the voice. Despite hoping that it was them, they had serious doubts that it actually would be.

"Ma'am?" The operator glanced up at her uncertainly before she leaned past him and hit a switch.

"You men have the worst timing of anyone I've ever known!"

Duo cursed in surprise. He hadn't expected to have actually received a reply from her, or at least not that quickly.

_"Of course we do. We've never played by your rules and you know it."_ The cool voice of Heero answered.

She smiled in relief, glad to know he and the others were safe.

_"It's good to hear your voice again Relena."_ Quatre said happily.

"It's even better to hear all of yours." She said gently. "Hangar two will be open for you." She glanced at the soldier, who quickly ran from the room as he realized his orders.

_"Since we're already aware of what your next step will be: when you request their presence, can you please not tell them why?" _Duo asked.

She realized Duo had something possibly bad planned, but felt too relieved to argue with him.

"Can you handle that request?" She asked another soldier who stood guard.

She saluted Relena before vanishing.

"We'll meet you there."

_"Understood."_ That was the general reply from them before the communication line went dead.

Milliardo and the others ran after Relena as she bolted happily from the room to meet them, leaving the new pilots to sit in their suits and contemplate what this new development meant for their careers as Gundam pilots…

* * *

Relena and the Defence Council stared at the once new-looking Gundams as they came in bearing the scars of their battles in the C.E. universe.

"What happened to them…?" Sally asked to nobody in particular as the Gundams stopped and were locked into place.

People gathered around in surprise and confusion as the pilots left their Gundams and walked over to Relena and the others.

Relena glanced worriedly at the wound on Duo's face. "Are you all right?"

Duo waved her concern away dismissively. "It's fine. It's just a scratch. Did you miss us?" He asked with a grin, which quickly turned into a wince because of his wound.

Relena smiled in return. "Now why would I miss nuisances like you five? I was glad when you were gone; it was one less grey hair on my head."

"Hey!"

The others chuckled in amusement.

Relena sighed in relief before quickly hugging each of the pilots, whispering that she was grateful to have each of them back.

The pilots returned her hugs with whispered thanks; even Heero and Wufei decided it was better to return the hug than seem ungrateful for her concern of them. Some of the other pilots even noted, with hidden smirks, that Heero and Relena's embrace seemed to be the longest and hardest of them all.

Milliardo frowned as he noticed that, and looked up at the Gundams as a cover. "It looks as though you took her advice of 'breaking in the Gundams' a little too literally…"

Heero glanced at him coolly. "We were pulled into another universe's war. You can't ask for better 'breaking in' than that."

"What?" Une asked in shock.

"Don't worry about it. We'll get caught up on what's been happening around here, and catch you up on what happened to us while we were gone, once we've had some time to rest. It got really rough before we came home, so we're exhausted… even if we don't look it." Trowa said.

Relena nodded in understanding. "We'll have rooms made up for you as quickly as possible." She said as she led them away from the hangar.

"Don't worry; we'll have mechanics begin working on repairs as soon as possible." Noin said as the Defence Council followed behind the pilots like a strange sort of honour guard.

"By the way…" Duo trailed off, not sure how to phrase the question he wanted to ask.

"They've been notified and you'll be able to see them by the end of the week." Relena said, smiling back at him.

Duo nodded in thanks.

"Of course, by then both sides will be caught up on what they've been up to in the past several months, right?" Milliardo asked seriously.

"Don't worry Milliardo, so long as you don't keep information from us, we won't keep any from you." Heero said dismissively.

"Although there was one errand I was asked to do in secrecy, and I ain't telling anyone about what it was I had to do." Duo said sternly.

The others nodded in agreement.

"He won't even tell us, so you can forget about extracting it from him." Quatre said.

Milliardo nodded. "That's fine."

* * *

Relena led them to a lounge. "You can wait here until your rooms are ready. I'll take care of that personally."

The Defence Council glanced amongst themselves. "We have some business to attend to, so we'll see you tomorrow." Noin said as she waved goodbye to the pilots before they were left alone to collapse in chairs and on couches as the pressures of the C.E. universe's war were finally lifted from them.

"It's good to be home…" Quatre admitted.

The others silently agreed as sleep decided it couldn't wait for their rooms to be ready and it took them one by one on whatever object of furniture they had collapsed onto.

* * *

The Defence Council and Relena paused outside, glancing back at the closed door warily.

"So how are we going to break the news to them that they were, essentially, replaced?" Sally asked worriedly.

"Make sure their guns are taken away first, because we're going to be shot." Noin said wryly.

"There's nothing they can do about it. You can't undo what has already been done. They'll just have to live with it." Une said sternly.

"However, if things get out of hand, the new pilots will be shipped back to their homes. Heero and the others are better disciplined and more experienced, so naturally they'll be allowed to stay." Milliardo said as they began walking away to avoid being accidentally overheard.

"Not to mention that we trust them a great deal more than anybody sent by those power-hungry ambassadors…" Noin said with an amused smile.

The others nodded in agreement.

Relena sighed, looking down at the floor. "I feel bad for the replacement pilots though. We basically made them a great deal of promises, and then put them through hell, and now they're going to be thrown out."

"They'll only be thrown out if they don't follow the rules we'll slap down. Besides, you made that perfectly clear in our first meeting with them: they were second to Heero and the others if they returned. Now that they have, the new pilots will become their backup… unless circumstances force us to return them to their ambassadors." Milliardo said as he placed a reassuring hand on Relena's shoulder.

"You're right… I'll let you deal with them; I must go make accommodations for the others." She said quickly before separating and running to find the official in charge of the base.

The Defence Council could barely contain their happiness at the return of their old comrades as they walked down the hallway, talking amongst themselves about things that were completely unrelated to their duties.

* * *

"You did what?" Duo yelled incredulously as they learned that they had been declared dead and had been replaced.

Two days had passed, but the Defence Council had surprisingly been able to prevent the original pilots learning about, or even running into, the new pilots.

"Now I understand why guns weren't allowed in this meeting." Heero said icily.

"Don't worry. We'll handle all the hassle of bringing you back to life. As for the new pilots, they'll be your backup. They'll take on menial tasks that aren't worth your time. However, you will still be in charge of guarding the shuttle. That's one task we won't delegate to them." Milliardo said sternly.

"So even though you trained these guys, you still don't trust them?" Trowa asked in disbelief as he shook his head.

Milliardo nodded in response.

"We can't trust them because we don't trust the ambassadors. It's as simple as that." Noin explained.

"Please try to get along with them. Once we've heard what happened to you, we'll be bringing them in so you can become acquainted with each other. And please keep things civil. We've already warned them that there will be consequences if they aren't, so we have to hold you five to the same standard." Relena's plea turned into a stern warning.

She didn't want to be firm with them, but she didn't want the ambassadors accusing her or the Defence Council of having double standards for both sets of pilots.

They nodded in understanding before glancing at each other to see who was willing to tell them what they had been through.

Finally Quatre sighed. "I guess I will… but I'm warning you: you won't believe what I'm about to tell you…"

Milliardo and the others glanced at each other. "Try us." He said.

Quatre nodded. "All right, but I warned you…" He proceeded to tell them everything from when Duo first spotted the anomaly up to when they realized they were home.

* * *

It took two hours and several glasses of water in order for Quatre to tell Relena and the Defence Council what had happened to them, with some minor input from those who had gone their separate ways.

Relena was left speechless after hearing about the lengths the two sides went in a desperate attempt to annihilate their enemies.

"That's horrible…" Sally said weakly.

"Hopefully remembering that horror will make people try hard to keep the peace that had begun to settle as we left…" Heero said quietly.

The silence that fell was heavy as they realized how badly it could have been for them if the Romefeller Foundation or OZ had fought like the Earth Forces and ZAFT did.

A few moments passed before everyone regained their focus.

"All right, I guess we should bring in your fellow pilots…" Relena said nervously.

Tension began to form in the room from the older pilots as Milliardo left to retrieve them.

"And I mean it: keep things civil. I don't want to lose you guys." Relena said firmly before Milliardo reappeared with the nine pilots behind him.

Noin and the others tensed as they noticed the way some of the pilots were looking at each other.

"This isn't going to go well…" Sally whispered to Noin worriedly.

Noin shook her head in agreement as the new pilots took their seats across from the older pilots.

Once the introductions were over, the pilots stared at each other in silence as they seemed to be inspecting one another.

Heero was the only one who seemed to be completely disinterested in the new pilots, while Wufei seemed to regard them with contempt.

The others wore varying degrees of distrust and wariness for the new pilots.

Neither side seemed willing to try and get to know the other, so Relena finally got fed up with the tension and broke it up with a sharp clap of her hands.

The new pilots jumped as the noise startled them; the older ones simply glanced at her.

"All right… I guess that ends this meeting. Both teams should at least try to get along because next week you'll be started on joint-training sessions." She snapped at them.

The older pilots glanced over at the new pilots with the same expressions they had been wearing before, but quickly turned their attentions back to Relena with reluctant nods of agreement.

Not wanting to be outdone by the more disciplined older pilots, the new pilots nodded in agreement as well before being led away by Milliardo.

"Well that was productive… at least they kept things civil like you asked them to…" Noin whispered in her ear, resulting in a sigh from Relena before she dismissed the older pilots.

"This is going to go badly, isn't it?" She asked Noin, who simply shrugged in reply before leaving to do a quick assessment on the Tallgeese III.

Noin had the strangest feeling it would be needed sooner than Milliardo expected.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I hope this doesn't turn out wonky. If it does, let me know. So my dad had to replace his harddrive, which meant he lost his programs. Including the nice and fancy Word. Oh well. I refuse to put off uploading much longer, so I'm uploading from Wordpad. Hopefully things doen't get weird. These last few chapters are setting up for the next part of the trilogy. Whoo! Enjoy, please.


	23. Trouble at Home

Chapter 23: Trouble at Home

The doctor was removing Duo's stitches before they went to see their loved ones.

Quatre stood watching in bemusement. "You really will have a scar there."

Duo shrugged, unable to talk until the doctor was finished.

"These certainly are some unusual stitches." The doctor said as he finished.

"Eh, it was for a good cause." Duo said with a grin.

Quatre chuckled in amusement. "I already know you won't tell me, so I won't press you."

"Damn straight I'm not." Duo said proudly.

"Come on, the others are waiting for us." Duo nodded gleefully as the two pilots bolted from the doctor's office, eager to see their companions.

* * *

Hilde, the Maganacs, and Catherine were tensely waiting in a specially set-up lounge. They had been requested to come without being given any reason except that it was an important one. They were distracted by a television that was playing the news, so they didn't notice Duo leaning against the doorway with a wide grin.

Trowa glanced worriedly at Duo as he realized Duo really had been planning something.

Duo made a motion for him to keep quiet when he noticed Trowa's mouth open.

Trowa and Quatre rolled their eyes as Duo slipped low to the floor, well below the back of the couch where everyone had been told to wait, and paused behind Hilde.

Wufei and Heero shook their heads as they stayed in the hallway, since there was nobody there for them, and waited for the explosion resulting from Duo's actions.

He leaned on the back of the couch behind Hilde.

"So, did we miss anything?" Duo asked.

Hilde yelled in surprise, turning around and instinctively punching Duo, knocking him over before realizing who it was she had hit.

She could only stare at him as he rubbed his freshly healed scar, checking to make sure that it hadn't reopened.

The others had jumped at her yell and stared at Duo for a few moments before hopefully looking at the doorway.

Quatre and Trowa waved to the Maganacs and Catherine, who could only stare in surprise as they approached.

Before either could help Duo to his feet, Hilde scrambled over the couch and threw herself on him, hugging him tightly.

"It's about time you came back, jerk…" She said into his shoulder.

He shrugged to the other two as he returned her hug.

Quatre and Trowa simply shook their heads before Catherine hugged Trowa and Quatre was swept into the group of Maganacs, disappearing under their chaotic attempts at personally welcoming him back.

Duo finally managed to get Hilde off of him long enough for him to be able to sit on the couch, where she traced a concerned finger along his scar, only to be brushed off with the same reaction he'd been giving the others.

Catherine began telling Trowa about what had been happening with the circus since his disappearance, and the Maganacs began assuring Quatre that nothing bad had happened to the Winner Corporation in his absence, claiming that they never put any of his contingency plans into effect even after the pilots had been declared dead.

Heero and Wufei stood in the doorway watching them fall into deep conversations with their respective loved ones.

"Feeling out of place?" Sally asked as she stood behind them.

"Not really. I'm right where I want to be." Heero replied as he closed his eyes.

Wufei nodded in agreement.

Sally chuckled. "Come on you two, I guess you can help me then. There's some things I need to do and your help will be greatly appreciated." She said before walking away with Heero and Wufei behind her, leaving the others to catch up with their loved ones.

Trowa was the only one to take note of their absence, but knew there was no point in worrying about them as Catherine told him about his replacement.

* * *

However, the reunion bliss was short-lived.

The pilots were forced to remain at the facility and their loved ones were sent back with the promise that the pilots would resume their normal livelihoods as soon as the red tape had cleared on bringing them back from the dead.

In the meantime, trouble was almost guaranteed whenever any of the new pilots encountered any of the older pilots… which made their first scheduled joint-training session a nervous affair for Relena and Milliardo as they went to oversee it.

"Do you have the disciplinary reports?" She asked warily as Milliardo brought out an extremely thick book with a nod.

Just the sight of the book's thickness produced a sigh of disappointment from Relena.

"Heero and Caden have caused the most trouble with approximately fifty incidents each. However, I have a feeling that's just the tip of the iceberg and many of the incidents involving one or the other weren't reported."

Relena sighed in exasperation and shook her head. "Why am I not surprised?"

Milliardo schooled his amused expression as he flipped past the detailed reports of Heero and Caden's troublemaking.

"The others aren't exactly any better though. Trowa, Quatre and Andrew are the only ones who are in the single digits for disciplinary reports, but not even they are completely free of having been disciplined."

"Should we call off the joint-training then?" She asked worriedly.

Milliardo shook his head. "They aren't supposed to be using their real weapons so it should be fine, but I have a contingency plan in place if things get rough."

Relena looked up at him in confusion as they entered the control room that looked out into space where the five Gundams of the older pilots stared down the nine Gundams of the new pilots.

"Now remember that the new Gundams are only seventy-five percent completed, so please go easy on them. That goes for both parties." Relena warned.

Once both sides acknowledged her warning, Milliardo ordered the training session to begin.

* * *

Everything seemed to be going well at first, until Caden's Gundam brought out its real beam sabre and slashed at the Sandrock, which barely got out of the way to avoid taking unnecessary damage.

The Deathscythe Hell immediately retaliated with its real beam scythe, which in turn forced Yamato's Gundam to retaliate.

Eventually the training session turned into a real battle as both sides retaliated against an action taken by the other side.

"Milliardo, whatever that contingency plan is, hurry and put it into effect before they destroy each other." Relena said shakily as she watched the battle unfold.

Milliardo nodded and vanished from the control room just as the Altron ripped the incomplete arm from Yamato's Gundam.

The only thing Relena could do was hope that Heero wouldn't use the twin buster rifle against the new pilots. They had decided to keep the power of the new Gundams to a minimum because of how little they could trust the new pilots; so none of the new Gundams had anything comparable to the twin buster rifle because they couldn't handle the output of power it had.

Several large and powerful blasts forced the battle to a halt, as all involved were forced to dodge them.

Relena frowned as she saw what Milliardo's contingency plan had been.

The newly mobilized Tallgeese III held a dobergun aimed at the feuding Gundams as it stood near the mouth of the hangar where it had been hidden.

"_All of you to your quarters at once!"_ Milliardo snapped.

The older pilots obeyed without protest, heading towards the open hangar where the Tallgeese III stood.

However, Caden's Gundam charged at the Tallgeese III with its beam sabre.

The Tallgeese III stood still until the beam sabre was at the tip of the dobergun. The dobergun was quickly discarded as the Tallgeese III brought out its heat rod, which wrapped around the other Gundam's arm before the Tallgeese III threw it into Yamato's Gundam, which had been aiming its gun at the Tallgeese III hoping to capitalize on the distraction.

"_That is an order! I will not repeat myself again!"_ Milliardo roared angrily at the new pilots.

The new pilots quickly realized the leader of the Defence Council was not fooling around and obeyed his order.

The older Gundams hovered near the Tallgeese III.

"_Feels good to be back in the pilot's seat, doesn't it?"_ Heero asked casually.

"_Indeed… I must admit that I belong on the field of battle with you five… not stuck behind a desk like I am…"_ Milliardo said in agreement.

The older pilots chuckled as they followed the Tallgeese III back into the mobile suit hangar.

* * *

All fourteen Gundams and the Tallgeese III were under restraints and all of the pilots, except Milliardo, were placed under arrest for their actions in the battle.

The ambassadors were furious and demanded a meeting when their selected pilots were sent back to their countries and colonies to spend their arrest periods at home with the request that they did not return when it was done.

The older pilots weren't sent back to their homes; instead they were confined to their rooms within the facility that had essentially become the ESUN's temporary headquarters during this time.

* * *

The ambassadors got their meeting and arrived several hours early simply to irritate Relena with unnecessary complaints that were unrelated to the pilots.

The tension was high when the time for the meeting came and Relena, Milliardo and the older pilots sat waiting for the ambassadors, who were nowhere to be seen despite arriving early.

"Why am I not surprised?" Duo grumbled.

Relena sighed. "Please don't cause yourselves any trouble. Thankfully the facts fall in your favour, but that doesn't mean they'll try and make you look bad. Don't go saying or doing anything that will help their case."

Milliardo smiled in amusement at them. "Your return put a wrench into their plans that they've had in motion since they first learned about Relena's considerations for new Gundams to act as deterrent agents."

"Let me guess: those plans involved gaining more influence within the ESUN?" Quatre asked grimly.

Relena and Milliardo nodded, glancing cautiously at the door.

"Your positions as Gundam pilots hold a much stronger influence than you may realize. If the ambassadors were able to brag that they had a Gundam pilot on a leash, even if it wasn't one of you five, they'd gain a great deal more influence and respect in their countries." Relena explained quietly.

They nodded in grim understanding as they were made to wait quietly for the ambassadors, all of whom mysteriously seemed to have forgotten when and where the meeting was supposed to take place.

Noin finally escorted the nine older men into the meeting room before shooting a worried glance at Milliardo, who nodded reassuringly. She sighed and reluctantly returned his nod before leaving, shutting the door behind her.

The ambassadors seemed to ignore the impatient glares they were receiving as they took their time in being seated.

Milliardo scowled as he noticed something missing. "Where are your pilots? You were asked to bring them."

The European ambassador brushed aside Milliardo's question with a dismissive wave of his hand. "We decided it was in their best interests not to come… after all, your pilots have a history of violent behaviour. We didn't want them attacking our pilots." He said gravely.

"What was that? It was your pilots who did all the attacking!" Duo snapped, jumping up from his chair, only to be wrestled back into it by Quatre and Trowa.

"Please stay calm. They're trying to rile us up, just like Relena and Milliardo said they would." Quatre hissed in Duo's ear loud enough to be heard by the others on their side of the table.

Once Duo nodded, they let go of him as the ambassadors watched at him warily.

Relena sighed and shook her head. "I apologise. Mr. Maxwell has been through some stressful events during their time away and it seems to have affected his emotional state." She lied as Heero shot Duo a dangerous warning glare.

Catching sight of the glare, Duo slipped low in his chair, to the point that he almost slipped right off his chair.

The ambassadors frowned at her; however they had no choice but to believe her until they could prove otherwise.

Once things had settled down, Milliardo passed each ambassador a folder.

"You will find in those folders detailed reports of all incidents up to, and including, the joint training session that resulted in their arrests and the lockdown of their Gundams." He said as he stood behind Relena, staring icily at the ambassadors.

The icy gaze forced the ambassadors to look at the folders in an attempt to avoid staring at him or the equally icy gazes of the Gundam pilots.

After a few moments of reading, the ambassadors stepped away from the table to confer with each other.

The ambassadors seemed tense and nervous as they quietly argued with each other.

Wufei smiled. "Their backs are to the wall and they know it… They're trying to find some way to discredit us, but can't…" He said quietly so that only the others could hear.

A slight smile appeared on Heero's face, much to the worry of Relena and Milliardo. "Our plan is working perfectly…"

Relena was sorely tempted to ask what plan Heero was talking about, but the ambassadors had finally stopped talking and were returning to the table.

It was obvious that they were trying to ignore the pilots' icy stares that had quickly replaced their satisfied smirks.

The North American ambassador sighed as he looked at Relena. "We have to concede that it appears that our pilots have been the cause of more than half of the incidents in this report, including the joint-training incident."

Duo looked as though he was going to say something, but Quatre quickly covered his mouth.

"It may be due to their youth or due to the environment they've grown up in, however we will pull them from duty. We'll have to compensate them in some way, but they will no longer be pilots unless the situation is dire. Is that a fair arrangement?" The L1 colony ambassador asked flatly, although he and the others seemed to disapprove of the measure they were being forced to take.

Relena and Milliardo nodded in agreement. "However, their Gundams will remain in our care to be dismantled and used as repair parts for the other Gundams."

The ambassadors roared in protest before Milliardo informed them that the meeting had come to an end. The snappish tone of finality forced the ambassadors to become silent and sullen.

After a few moments of this, the ambassadors quickly stood and began to leave; hoping that their angry scowls would go unnoticed by Milliardo and the dangerous Gundam pilots.

"We'll deal with all of the needed arrangements. You have other, more important, matters to deal with now that this mess has been cleared up. I assume you'll be returning to the Sanc Kingdom soon to deal with them." The L2 ambassador said stiffly before he left, shutting the door harder than necessary.

Relena glanced at the pilots as their icy stares turned into congratulatory handshakes and high fives. "Your plan was to force them to remove their pilots, wasn't it?" She asked flatly.

Heero nodded. "Shall we begin preparing to escort you home?" He asked.

She sighed in defeat, knowing they wouldn't feel any guilt about what they did. "Fine… go ahead. The other Gundams will be shipped down to Earth at a later time."

Heero and the others nodded before leaving.

Milliardo chuckled before she turned on him and began berating him about keeping the Tallgeese III's reactivation a secret from her.

* * *

Duo took a deep breath of Earth's air as they stood in front of the ESUN Headquarters' main entrance. "Freedom at last…" He said with a grin.

"I wonder how things are going in that other universe…" Quatre said worriedly.

"I'm sure things are fine now that they're working together. Come on, I'm hungry. We've got loads of time to kill before our shuttle is ready, so let's grab something to eat." Duo said as his stomach loudly agreed with him.

Trowa chuckled. "I guess I can agree with that."

Quatre nodded.

"So long as you're buying, I'm in." Wufei said coolly.

"I guess Duo's picking up the tab then." Quatre said with a grin.

"Hey!" Duo's indignant tone brought laughter from the others.

Heero remained silent as he began to walk away.

"Heero? Aren't you going to join us?" Trowa asked.

Heero shook his head. "I'm not hungry, so I'll just go and check on the Gundams before the shuttle's ready to leave."

"So you're skipping out on a free meal? Your loss then." Duo said with a shrug.

A slight hint of a smile appeared on Heero's face. "I'm just keeping it for another occasion. You aren't off the hook, Duo."

"Hey!"

The others laughed as Heero walked away. "Come on, before Duo changes his mind." Quatre said as Trowa began to push Duo away from the headquarters.

They were grateful to be home and had found a new appreciation for the peace their universe had, after being reminded of the horrors that war could bring…

* * *

**Author's Note:** Last chapter for the A.C. Universe! Whoo! Second last chapter overall! We'll reveal how things are going in the C.E. Universe in the last chapter, flipping things around from the opening starting in the A.C. universe. I'll be taking a break for the rest of November before unleashing the evil second part of the Gundam Trilogy. Expect it to resume in December. Hope you've been enjoying things!


	24. Peace?

Chapter 24: Peace?

The dust after the war in the C.E universe was still settling, and many political heads rolled for both the Plants and the Earth Forces.

However, those who participated in the war weren't spared from retribution. Athrun, Dearka, and Yzak were walking free, but were waiting for their trials thanks to their apparent treasonous actions at the end of the war. Because she was a civilian, Lacus was spared any punishment. She had stayed by the still unconscious Kira's side for a week before mysteriously vanishing with the package that Duo retrieved for her.

Blue Cosmos took the fall for the Earth Forces, so Murrue and the crew of the Archangel were spared from facing trials of their own. Surprisingly, the rumours were that they were all to be commended for their part in exposing Blue Cosmos' corruption.

The crew of the Archangel vanished once they were cleared, and the crew of the Eternal vanished just as quickly when they were freed to await their trials for treason and the theft of the Eternal.

The Eternal and Archangel also mysteriously vanished and although the Earth Forces, Orb and the Plants scoured both Earth and space for them, nobody could find the warships. Despite all the turmoil, a sense of relief surrounded the Co-ordinators and the Naturals.

The brutal war was over, and it seemed that peace would be sticking around for a long time to come.

* * *

Cagalli sighed in relief as she finally got some time off from her duties. Things had been hectic in the Orb homeland as they worked on rebuilding the areas devastated by the attacks from the Earth Forces.

She walked along a forested section that had been untouched by the battle. She paused and smiled as something caught her eye. "I know you're there Athrun. Please stop hiding, I'm alone."

Athrun jumped down from a tree and frowned worriedly at her. "You shouldn't be alone."

"I'm not now, am I?" Cagalli said with a smile.

Athrun couldn't help but return her smile. "Have you heard anything on Kira?"

Cagalli shook her head. "There's been no change, even though he's been transferred to a facility here in Orb. He's almost fully healed, but he hasn't regained consciousness."

Athrun nodded sadly, wishing his friend would wake up.

"Why don't you stop hiding out here? You could stay with Reverend Malchio and the orphans; they've taken up residence here. I know you intend to face your trial, so why don't you stay in the company of friends until then?" Cagalli asked sternly.

Athrun looked away.

She smiled and rested a hand on his shoulder. "You know what? I have a better idea…" She said before laying out a plan for him to take an alias and become her personal bodyguard, that way they could stay together without having to meet in secret.

Athrun reluctantly agreed, but decided to wait until after his trial before taking on a new persona and the duties of guarding her.

* * *

Murrue knelt between the graves that were marked 'Mwu La Flaga' and 'Natarle Badgiruel' at a military cemetery. Fresh flowers adorned the two empty graves.

Neither Natarle's or Mwu's bodies had been recovered, so the assumption was that they were destroyed in the explosions. They were given full military funerals despite that, and now Murrue had finally come to pay her respects to her former comrades.

She felt empty inside as she looked at Mwu's grave. She had loved two mobile armour pilots in her lifetime and both died in combat despite making promises to her that they would come back.

"I figured I'd find you here." Andrew's voice called out to her.

She turned as he approached, carrying something in his arm. "Andrew… it's been a while hasn't it?"

"A while? It's only been a week." He said as he stood behind her.

"I know… it just seems like so much longer considering everything that's happened…" She said quietly.

Andrew knelt in front of Mwu's grave, placing a box on it. "A friend of ours got a hold of these and asked me to bring them here." He explained as he opened the box to reveal several sets of medals. "He was honoured for his brave sacrifice in battle…" He took one of the medals out of the box and passed it to her. "I think he'd want you to have this."

Murrue remained silent, fighting back tears.

"I recently got myself a place in Orb. You're welcome to stay there as long as you like." Andrew offered as Murrue stared at the medal she was holding.

Finally unable to hold back the tears anymore, she leaned on Andrew's shoulder and cried.

Andrew held her as best he could with his only arm. "That's right, Murrue, you'll feel better if you let it out…" He said gently.

After a few moments, Murrue wiped the drying tears from her eyes. "Come on, I'll take you up on that offer…"

Andrew nodded before suddenly remembering something. "Oh yeah, here's yours. All of the members of the Archangel were given them." He said while passing her a box similar to the one he had placed on Mwu's grave as he led her away from the cemetery.

* * *

Sai, Kuzzey, and Miriallia decided to try and finish up school as best they could. Miriallia had decided to venture into photography so she could become a freelance photographer. The other two decided to lead 'less exciting' lives after what they had experienced.

They were walking towards their new school, wearing uniforms that were very different from the ones they had been wearing only a week before.

"Has there been any word on Kira?" Sai asked Miriallia, who had been keeping in touch with the Archangel crew.

She shook her head. "No… Cagalli said she'd keep me posted though."

Kuzzey sighed. "It's been such a tough year… I really hope we've seen the last of war."

"If we don't though, you can be certain I'm not going to be involved. Too many of our friends died because of it." Sai said with a shake of his head.

Miriallia nodded in agreement. "I won't be directly a part of the fighting, but I do intend to cover what happens, to make sure people have an unbiased view of what's happening." She said sternly.

Kuzzey stared at her. "You certainly are brave, Miriallia. I wouldn't even be able to do that."

Miriallia made a dismissive wave. "It's not bravery. After all that we saw, it's only logical that others should be allowed to see what the soldiers are forced to see. That way, hopefully, people will be less willing to start wars if they see what it puts people through."

Sai nodded and was about to speak before the bells of their school chimed. "Crap! We're going to be late!" Sai yelled, running towards the building with Miriallia and Kuzzey right behind him.

* * *

Dearka and Yzak stood before Nichol's grave as they paid their respects to their late comrade. A car sat waiting for them on the roadway as they stood in silence for a few moments.

Finally, Yzak broke it. "Have you heard from Athrun since we got our summons?"

Dearka shook his head. "No… it's like he vanished with the rest of them."

"Humph. He'll be there the day of his trial though." Yzak said dismissively.

Dearka chuckled. "Of course he will. He's got a pretty high sense of duty, just like the rest of us."

"Ironic considering we're all staring down death because of treason…" Yzak said cynically.

"Do you think we stand a chance against those charges?" Dearka asked grimly.

Yzak could only shrug as he straightened up some yellowing sheet music paper that had been placed there by somebody who had visited the grave earlier.

"So I've been hearing some rumours about you and that Natural girl from the Archangel." Yzak said as they began making their way back to the car.

Dearka stumbled slightly as he looked at his friend. "What kind of rumours? There's nothing going on between Miriallia and me! She tried to kill me!" He said nervously.

Yzak chuckled as he threw his friend off balance. "Never mind… what do you plan to do if you beat the charges?"

"Rejoin ZAFT, of course. I don't have anything better to do…"

Yzak nodded in agreement. "I will too, if they'll have us."

"We're the remainder of the Le Creuset team, formerly the best team of ZAFT; they'll take us back in a heartbeat because of that. Besides, everyone realizes that Patrick Zala went overboard, so they may forgive us."

Yzak sighed. "I hope you're right… for all of our sakes…" He said grimly.

Both of the former soldiers could almost feel the nooses around their necks as they climbed in the car, which drove away as soon as they climbed in.

* * *

Kira finally awoke to the strange sounds of the hospital.

After a few moments of being in a confused daze, Kira wandered out into the hallway, looking for a friendly face to catch him up on what happened after he saw Cagalli and Athrun coming to retrieve him.

Lacus appeared from a nearby elevator and saw him come out. "Kira!" She said before running over to him.

"Lacus… can you tell me what's happened?" He asked as she stopped him from getting too far from his room.

She shook her head. "I will in time, but you need your rest. You've been unconscious for a week and everyone's been worried about you."

"A week?" Kira couldn't hide the shock from his voice.

Lacus put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It is fine. Your wounds have almost completely healed. I'm sure the doctors will want to check on you now that you are awake."

Kira sighed; disappointed that he hadn't been able to see his friends one last time before the end of the war.

Lacus seemed to sense this disappointment. "I promise, I will arrange a reunion with everyone, so you can say your goodbyes to them. Everyone has gone their separate ways now that they are not bound by combat."

Kira smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks, Lacus."

She returned her smile before she noticed a few nurses running to get doctors. "You may wish to return to your room. I do not wish to see you get into trouble with the doctors."

Kira chuckled weakly as he noticed the nurses out of the corner of his eye. "I guess so… but before I go, could you tell me anything about that package you had Duo retrieve for you? I overheard him grumbling about being shot at while fighting Rau."

Lacus shook her head. "I am sorry Kira, but I can tell you that its part of a contingency plan I have in case this peace is disrupted. I just hope I do not need to put it into effect." She said worriedly.

It was Kira's turn to put a reassuring hand on Lacus' shoulder. "I'm sure things will be fine, but even if they aren't, we'll face them head on together."

Lacus smiled and nodded at him. "Thank you, Kira…" She noticed the doctors coming towards them. "Now please return to your room."

Kira chuckled and nodded, retreating into his room just as the doctors arrived.

Lacus giggled as the doctors began to fuss over Kira before saying a quick goodbye and leaving.

* * *

Once Kira was out of the hospital, Lacus made good on her promise and a meeting was arranged for everyone to get together one last time.

Kira and Lacus were the first to arrive at a new memorial site that was being set up on the Orb homeland. Kira sighed as he helped Lacus unfold a large blanket. "I hope the others will be able to make it."

Lacus smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure they will. You can always trust them."

Kira nodded as a car pulled up and Cagalli jumped from the car and ran down the stairs. He barely had time to brace himself as she flung her arms around him.

"I'm so glad you're all right!" She said happily.

Kira returned her hug. "Same here…"

Athrun stood beside Lacus. "It's been a strange road, hasn't it?" He asked.

Lacus simply nodded as another car appeared.

Murrue and Andrew approached to cheerful hails from their younger friends.

The last of the arrivals came quickly as Dearka, Yzak, Miriallia, Sai and Kuzzey came in the same car with the suspiciously convenient explanation that they had met up at the airport.

The reunion was filled with laughter and amusement as everyone spoke of their plans for the future and what they hoped to become when they were older.

However, that amusement quickly faded as their thoughts turned to the friends that should have been there to celebrate the war's end with them.

"It's only been two weeks, but I miss them already…" Miriallia admitted.

Murrue nodded in agreement. "That war took too many friends from us…"

"We should have a few moments of silence for them…" Lacus said and nobody argued as they bowed their heads and closed their eyes to honour their lost friends.

After a few moments, they began to stand to leave, deciding it'd be too painful to continue the reunion now that the grimmer parts of the war had surfaced and ruined the mood.

"Wait! We can't really leave on such depressing terms…" Miriallia said as she nervously held a camera that she had been hiding in her bag.

"Mir's right. Despite losing some friends, we made a lot of new ones…" Kira said with a smile.

The others nodded as they looked at people they would have never met as friends if it weren't for the war's darkest turns.

"Set up the camera, Miriallia." Murrue's request almost sounded like an order, causing her to blush in embarrassment.

Miriallia laughed. "Yes ma'am!" She said as she found a rock to set her camera up on.

Everyone scrambled to get into a good position as the camera's timer was set. However, just as the picture was about to be taken, Miriallia slapped Dearka and the camera caught everyone's amused reactions instead of a perfect group photo.

Miriallia sighed as she ignored curious questions about the slap and decided that the light wouldn't be good enough for another shot as she gathered up her camera quickly and ran to the car, promising the others that she would send their copies of the photo as soon as it was developed.

Dearka ignored the questions as well as he let Sai sit between him and Miriallia in their car.

Kira chuckled as he, Lacus, Athrun and Cagalli cleaned up. "That certainly ended the reunion on an interesting note, hm?"

The others nodded in amused agreement as they walked to their cars and said goodbye, promising that they would keep in touch with each other.

Kira and Lacus stood side by side as they watched the other cars drive away. "Let's hope it stays as peaceful as this…"

Lacus nodded in agreement as he slipped an arm around her waist and led her to their car, which was waiting patiently for them.

**Gundam Wing & Gundam Seed**

"**Winged Destiny"**

**The End**

**Part 1 of 3**

**Author's Note:** Tadaa. It's done! Whoo! Just like I promised, here's the link to "Is There No Escape From War?"  
fanfiction . net /s/6646996/1/Is_There_No_Escape_From_War (remove the spaces)

Hope you enjoy the sequel!


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